By Scott Gilfoid: After two close calls in his last two fights, WBO middleweight title holder Andy Lee (34-2, 24 KOs) will be defending his WBO title for the first time next month against former WBO champ Peter Quillin (31-0, 22 KOs) on NBC on the Premier Boxing Champions at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
With as shaky as the 30-year-old Lee looked against his last two opponents Matt Karobov and John Jackson, it’s going to be difficult for Lee to pull out the victory in this fight against the faster and arguably more athletic Quillin.
Lee and Quillin both possess the same amount of power, but Quillin can punch with power in equal hand, whereas Lee’s power is concentrated mainly in his right hand only.
Lee has one thing going for him in this fight and that’s his southpaw stance. Quillin hasn’t fought too many southpaws during his career, so it’s potentially going to be a little difficult for him to figure out Lee initially.
“I look forward to celebrating with all the Irish people after I win on April 11,” Lee said. “Coach Adam Booth is putting me through my paces and we’re working hard together to ensure that I beat Quillin and retain my title. I’m looking forward to coming to Brooklyn and defending my title in front of everyone in attendance.”
It seems to me that Lee is a little too cocky for his own good. It might be better for him to be a little more humble in realizing that he’s arguably the underdog in this fight. Quillin may not have the best chin or talent in the middleweight division, but he’s hard to hit, fast, athletic and powerful enough to make this a short night for Lee on April 11th unless Lee is able to catch Quillin with his right hook. The right hook is Lee’s home run punch, and he’s constantly looking for it.
Lee’s last two opponents, John Jackson and Matt Korobov, got a little too sloppy for their own good, and they wound up getting stopped after running into Lee’s right hook. However, Quillin is too smart to leave himself open to getting hit with Lee’s right hook. Quillin will have his guard up at all times to block Lee’s right hand shots, because that’s pretty much the only thing he can score a knockout with.
Quillin will be looking to take Lee to the deep water to wear him down and stop him the same way Brian Vera and former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr stopped him. Lee is kind of a six-round fighter.
If he doesn’t get his opponents out by the 6th, he wears down and struggles. Fortunately for Lee, he usually gets his knockouts by the 6th round, and this saves him from having to get into the deep waters in his fights. Vera and Chavez Jr both knocked Lee out in the 7th round in the past.
Lee’s other opposition have been flawed in one way or another, and weren’t able to make it to the second half of the fight like Chavez Jr and Vera were able to do. Quillin is going to be focused to get Lee into the later rounds so that he can expose his questionable stamina like Chavez Jr and Vera were able to do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVkucNyu6JY
Also on the Lee vs. Quillin card will be light welterweight Danny Garcia facing Lamont Peterson in a catch-weight fight at 143 pounds. While both Garcia and Peterson are world champions at 140, neither guy will have their titles on the line. Garcia is slowly moving up to welterweight and wants to fight at catch-weights until he gets to that weight class.
The winner of the Lee-Quillin fight will be defending the WBO title against #1 WBO Billy Joe Saunders. This is a good fight if you’re Lee, because it can take place in the UK and draw a lot of fans. But if Quillin wins the WBO title, it’s a much less interesting fight, because Saunders isn’t a big star in the U.S, which is where the fight would likely be taking place, and it’s not an interesting enough bout to get the attention of the casual boxing fans.
The fight would likely take place on NBC like the Quillin vs. Lee fight, but it might not be a big enough affair to be a headliner bout.
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