By Gav Duthie: Despite giving up his title in only September last year the WBO seems happy to let Peter Quillin 31-0 (22) fight for the crown again as rumors are rife that he is an advanced negotiations with new champion Andy Lee 34-2 (24). The two are expected to meet on April 11 alongside Danny Garcia versus Lamont Peterson. The winner is then expected to fight mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders 21-0 (11).
Giving up the title
The last high profile title vacation I can remember before Quillin’s was when Riddock Bowe literally threw his WBC title in the bin rather than face Lennox Lewis. Bowe has since said that he was happy to fight Lewis but was advised (badly) not to take the fight. It is widely regarded that Quillin’s vacation was also due to advice given by Al Haymon as he is in dispute with Roc Nation promotions who won the purse bid to hold the Quillin-Korobov bout which never happened. The difference here is that Bowe still had the WBA and IBF titles and a rematch with Evander Holyfield on the cards while Quillin had nothing lined up. One can only assume that Al Haymon was prepared to reimburse Quillin the $1.4 million that he didn’t receive for the fight and that he would get him the title back in the future. It seems bizarre that he could win a title back so soon after giving it up but nothing in boxing today surprises me.
Promotional Battle
You couldn’t make more of a mess of the American promotional scene if you threw a grenade in the middle of it. We finally thought the Golden Boy-Top Rank cold war was over although evidence of this is minimal. Recently Al Haymon has been signing Goldenboy fighters ceasing any association with Oscar. Clearly Haymon seems to have a problem with Roc Nation who have been signing up everybody lately which means lots of fights might be tough to make Mayweather also clearly still harbors hatred for Bob Arum, where does it end. If Quillin really relinquished his title just for Haymon then Mayweather is correct that fighters are just pawns in this promotional game.
Andy Lee
It is actually quite surprising to me that Lee would fancy this fight over fellow traveler Billy Joe Saunders. Fighting Saunders in the UK would certainly present better financial incentives than an undercard fight in America. If he wins he would need to fight Saunders anyway so there must be something in it for him to take this fight.
Prediction
I would make Quillin favorite to win back his belt. Andy Lee has a big punch but ‘Kid Chocolate’ is slick and is likely to win on points in my honest opinion. The fight is a good one but I still have serious problems with it being allowed in the first place.
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