By Dan Ambrose: WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs) will be the highest paid fighter in tonight’s card at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The 27-year-old Garcia will be getting $1.5 million for his 143 pound catch-weight fight against IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (33-2-1, 17 KOs).
That’s not bad money for a fight that has failed to catch the public’s imagination. Peterson will be getting $1.2 million. This may be as good as it gets for Peterson unless he can win, and keep moving his fight forward.
The winner of the Garcia-Peterson fight will have a decent chance of facing the winner of the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Manny Pacquiao mega-fight on May 2nd if the two superstars don’t face each other in an immediate rematch.
WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee (34-2, 24 KOs) will be receiving $500,000 for his non-title fight against former WBO 160lb champ Peter Quillin (31-0, 22 KOs). Lee, 30, will make an additional $125 thousand for Qullin coming in over weight. The fight won’t have Lee’s World Boxing Organization title up for grabs tonight due to Quillin having failed to make weight during the weigh-in on Friday.
Quillin will be getting $500,000, which is obviously quite a bit less than the $1.4 million that he would have made had he not vacated his WBO middleweight title when he was supposed to defend his strap against WBO mandatory challenger Matt Korobov. The $500k that Quillin will be receiving for the Lee fight is quite a bit less than the $1.4M that he would have received had he just taken the fight against Korobov and gotten it over with.
“Purses: Garcia $1.5M, Peterson 1.2M, Lee 500k (+125k for PQ missing weight & more via UK TV), Quillin $500k (unclear who’s paying penalty),” Dan Rafael of ESPN.com said on his twitter.
The Garcia-Peterson fight is a fairly easy one to predict a winner in. Garcia has the power advantage, and he’ll likely be the heavier fighter tonight when he gets inside the ring. For Peterson to win, he’s going to need to be able to keep his guard up to block Garcia’s left hooks, and he’s going to need to be able to take an occasional big shot. With the way that Lucas Matthysse blasted Peterson out in three rounds in their fight in 2013, it’s doubtful that Peterson will be able to take Garcia’s power for too long without getting knocked out.
Lee-Quillin is a tougher fight to predict the outcome in because both fighters are so flawed. Lee is a southpaw with good power, but he has stamina problems and he doesn’t move very well. Quillin could win this fight if he can drag Lee to the deep end and push a fast pace. But Quillin hasn’t fought in a year now, and he might have stamina problems of his own that could give him problems. Lee could wear Quillin down if he comes out fast and makes him work really hard for three minutes of every round.
Quillin’s chin is a question mark at this point. He was hurt by Gabriel Rosado in their fight in 2013, and Dionisio Miranda staggered Quillin in their fight in 2008. Apart from that, Quillin really hasn’t fought too many quality fighters during his 10 year pro career. He’s been fighting for quite some time, but he’s not really faced anyone that you can call a good fighter. Quillin’s best opponents thus far were Rosado, a shot Winky Wright, Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, Lukas Konecny and Craig McEwan. Those are not dangerous fighters. Based on the limited opposition that Quillin has fought during his career, it’s impossible to say what he’s capable of doing.
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