Quillin: “Losing uncle was harder than losing title.”

By Terence Dooley

Peter Quillin, 31-0 (22) has told Ireland’s Andy Lee, 34-2 (24), that he intends to win strong this weekend.  Quillin challenges Lee in a non-title contest at the Barclays Centre, New York live on BoxNation this Saturday and the Michigan-born, New York-based 31-year-old has vowed to break Irish hearts.

Because he failed to make weight on Friday, Quillin missed out on the opportunity to regain the WBO middleweight crown which Lee now owns. 

Quillin vacated the WBO belt due to personal reasons; his last defence was a decision win over Lukas Konecny last April.  He believes that Lee, 30, won’t be able to repeat the hard punching display that saw him win the belt by stopping Matt Korobov in December.

“I didn't watch Lee against Korobov because I was at another fight across town in Las Vegas on the same night (watching Devon Alexander lose to Amir Khan),” said Quillin when speaking to The Sun (Irish edition).

“There wasn't much to see in the Lee fight against Korobov, was there?  I looked at it recently.  To be honest, I've never watched the full fight, just the highlights.  And there weren't even too many of those, no disrespect to Andy.  But that fight was the definition of boxing in that one punch changed it.  It's a big ambition of mine to become a two-time champion and not to take anything away from him but I won't let anyone stop me.”

Quillin also revealed that the death of his uncle prompted his decision to vacate, pointing out that the grief of losing a family member out-weighed the pride of holding a title.

He said: “Was it painful to have to give up the belt?  Not as hard as losing my uncle to cancer.  I made the decision to give up my title to focus on some family time and I don't regret it.  I did what I had to do.”

Quillin is the home fighter in this one, but Lee has New York’s Irish community behind him, as well as his travelling fans.  Quillin, though, believes that he will win Lee’s fans over by producing an emphatic, exciting victory. 

“Everybody has different pressures to put up with,” he said.  “I want to keep my Irish fans.  What's the craic?  Isn't that what they say?  Besides, my name is Quillin—maybe there is some Irish in me way back, you never know.”

Please send news and views to @Terryboxing.