Andy Lee vs. Peter Quillin possible for April 11th on Garcia-Peterson card

By Boxing News - 01/22/2015 - Comments

lee2By Scott Gilfoid: WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee (34-2, 24 KOs) could be making his first defense against a very tough customer in Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (31-0, 22 KOs) on April 11th on the undercard of the Danny Garcia – Lamont Peterson catch-weight fight in New York, according to Dan Rafael.

Lee, 30, will need to get an exception by the World Boxing Organization to bypass his #1 WBO mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders, who Lee was supposed to be fighting in his first title defense. However, the green stuff is supposed to be better for the Quillin fight than the Saunders fight, so it’s possible we could be seeing that bout take place first.

Either way, Lee is going to have a really tough time holding onto his WBO strap for more than one title defense unless his power bails him out again.

It’s strange situation for Quillin, because he would be challenging for the title he just recently vacated. It makes no sense unless he can get more than the $1.4 million that he would have received had he simply defended it against his mandatory challenger Matt Korobov.

If he gets less than that amount, which would seem likely given that he’s a challenger, then he’ll look kind of silly for having vacated the title in the first place. I’m sure he was getting valuable advice at the time by his adviser Al Haymon, but if he loses money then it obviously is going to look like it was a bad move for him to have vacated the strap.

The Korobov fight was a very winnable one for Quillin. It’s not as if he was being forced to fight Gennady Golovkin or anything. Just have to hope that this doesn’t become a trend with Quillin in winning titles and then vacating them when a perceivable threat comes around.

“It’s in discussions and a significant possibility and it will resolve itself very soon,” said Lee’s promoter Lou DiBella via ESPN.com.

Lee could also vacate the WBO belt, according to Dan Rafael, and still take the Quillin fight and make more money than he would make if he simply defended the title against Saunders. That would make sense as long as Lee doesn’t lose ranking. If he beats Quillin, then Lee’s ranking will stay high enough for him to get a title shot against Saunders or whoever picks up the WBO strap after he vacates it.

For Lee, it’s a good deal because he might not get a chance to make that kind of cash for one fight in the remainder of his career so he’s got to take the money while it’s there. If he can beat Quillin, then Lee will definitely get another crack at winning the WBO belt or he could also face Golovkin or one of the other champions.

The Quillin-Lee fight, if it happens, will be televised on NBC as the co-feature on the Garcia vs. Peterson fight card. The bout is expected to take place in New York or Atlantic City in order to take advantage of Quillin’s large fan base in the New York area or the large Irish community that live in that area. Lee is Irish, so he’ll be able to tap into a lot of Irish fans on the East Coast.



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