In Saturday night’s televised opener of Premier Boxing Champions on NBC, WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee (34-2-1, 24 KOs) faced Peter Quillin (31-0-1, 22 KOs) in what was supposed to be Lee’s first title defense.
Instead Quillin, unable to make weight, allowed Lee to keep his title win, lose or draw. Although the result of the night was a split draw, Quillin dominated early and seemed to try and take Lee out of the fight early.
Lee stood his ground and stayed in the fight for the rest of the rounds. Lee responded well during his post-fight interview regarding the back-and-forth action.
“Quillin had the knockdowns, but I boxed consistently.” There’s really no better way to explain the fight, and most boxing fans agreed with the draw.
So what’s next for Lee and Quillin? You definitely can’t rule out the option of a rematch now. No fighter, including an undefeated one like Quillin, likes a blemish on his record, without having the opportunity to avenge the draw.
If the rematch takes place, Quillin needs to take his weight cut seriously and have no issues meeting the contracted weight. Missing the weight for this fight took away the opportunity to take back the WBO title he gave up last year.
Lee, still being the champion, can face the No. 1 mandatory challenger for the WBO middleweight title, Billy Joe Saunders (21-0, 11 KOs) next. Saunders is still looking for an opponent to face on May 9 in London.
Of course, there is the possibility of WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, which would be the most entertaining since fight fans love the “Big Drama Show” that GGG produces.
The names in the middleweight division can all produce great fights, but with Lee and Quillin in the PBC/Al Haymon circle, Daniel Jacobs could be a more likely opponent for both men to face.
No matter who Lee faces next, he needs to head back to the drawing board with his team after this Quillin draw. Lee showed much hesitation on Saturday, and would often throw one hard punch, and no follow up.
There were many rounds in the fight where little to no action occurred at all, and it is possible Lee was just looking too hard to land his hard right hook.
Quillin was definitely prepared to fight and take the title, had it still been a championship fight. Lee made sure he gave Quillin a tough return to the ring, after his one year layoff.
Bottom line, it was a good fight, and whoever these two step in the ring with next, boxing fans will be watching.
All photos by Elsa/Getty Images
