Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
When Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin steps in the ring this Saturday, April 11, 2015 to take on Andy Lee at the Barclays Center in his hometown Brooklyn, New York, don’t be surprised if he’s greeted with some boos.
April 11 baby… It's going down @KIDCHOCOLATE @AndyLeeBoxing @kingpete26 @DannySwift #PBConNBC #CornerToCorner
— Deontay Wilder (@BronzeBomber) April 3, 2015
He’s earned them, by conducting himself in such an embarrassing manner in 2014, that he’s basically become a pariah among the genre of “hardcore boxing fans.”
He’s not the only member of the Al Haymon stable who is rapidly losing supporters.
Most notably, Danny Garcia also makes the list of Haymon fighters who are rapidly becoming hated on among the boxing community. He will also be trying to legitimize some of his recent actions in the main event on Saturday against Lamont Peterson.
It’s Quillin though who takes the brunt of the criticism, words like “coward”, “duck” and “cherry picker,” are stones that have been hurled across social media and into his face for the better part of 16 months.
Peter Quillin talks about his animal status.Most likely the animal is a duck…..# Boxing
— R.S (@ThoughtsofRS) March 24, 2015
A time period in which Quillin, who somehow considers himself the most valuable Middleweight fighter in the world, has only fought once, against a no-name opponent, Lukas Konecny.
That’s why fans didn’t take it so lightly when Quillin spoke about a potential fight with Gennady Golovkin as if it wouldn’t be worth his time, he told IFL TV:
“The name doesn’t really bring much to the table besides a high risk fight with a low reward. Just saying to a bunch of fans ‘I beat Gennady Golovkin.” That’s all it really does. I’m not thinking like that. I’m not thinking of beating this guy because of the fans. The fans only do so much for you.”
The statement is nothing less than laughable, considering it’s Golovkin who has been headlining multiple sold out shows over the past couple of years, while Quillin is content with barely fighting on undercards.
It’s merely a disgusting attempt to belittle a matchup with Golovkin, causing detriment to the overall validity of boxing, leaving the question, “Who roots for a fighter that hurts the sport?”
The countdown begins. 5 days til my #PBconNBC debut against Andy Lee. #QuillinLee pic.twitter.com/Hq4eItUNuo
— Peter Quillin (@KIDCHOCOLATE) April 6, 2015
Not only will Quillin be fighting to try to win back his title, which he shamefully vacated back in 2014, along with turning down a career high $1.4 million dollar payday, but he’ll be trying to win back some of the fan base who told him to “fuck-off” long ago, as well as impress a new genre of boxing viewers.
It’s safe to say Lee would leave a lot of on-lookers happy if he was able to detonate his bomb of a right hook on Quillin’s face, even though it’s Kid Chocolate who lives just a short walk from the fight’s arena.
https://twitter.com/andrewvkennedy/status/583985435803791360
Andy Lee is an amazing story, and is one of those fighters that are very easy to like. He was never given anything in his career, instead he had to earn it all the hard way fighting through some losses and setbacks.
A student of the late Emanuel Steward, Lee even lived with the legendary trainer for a period of his career, and within Lee is like a living, breathing reminder of the work Steward accomplished.
Steward candidly opened up to ESPN.com in 2012 before Lee’s champion fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
“I’ve never been this close to any fighter, including Tommy, It’s more personal with Andy than any other fighter I’ve had.”
Lee is the definition of a fighter, an underdog, full of the pure grit and effort that makes him a fan favorite.
In his two fights in 2014, Lee showed amazing resilience, first by knocking out John Jackson in June, while he was down on all three of the judge’s scorecards, then with an unlikely sixth-round stoppage over Matt Korobov in December.
Lee was a 5-1 underdog against Korobov, and the fight was for the vacant WBO Middleweight title. Lee finished the fight with his ultimate equalizer, the right hook.
It was a fan-fetching performance, an exciting and unexpected conclusion, but one that Lee had lived up to for years.
He dedicated his win to Steward, who was always open when talking about his beliefs that Lee would one day become a world champion.
Boxing fans should back Lee on Saturday because it’s what’s best for the sport, and what’s best for the Middleweight division, because he’s a fighter who’s not politically tied down, and who is willing to stand toe-to-toe with the best.
He’s able to fight on any TV network, against opponents under any promotional banner, making matchups with Golovkin, Miguel Cotto and David Lemieux, actual possibilities.
While Quillin has never showed any real interest over his career in taking any true risks, or daring to be great, making him just another typical “Haymonized” prize fighter, who does more bad than good with a world title belt around his waist.
Who are you backing this weekend when WBO Middleweight Champion Andy Lee takes on Peter Quillin? Please feel free to discuss in our comments section provided below.
http://www.wedgies.com/question/5525b6db310e8314000178ce
