Future Middleweight Champion of the World?

"Champions know there are no shortcuts to the top. They climb the mountain one step at a time. They have no use for helicopters!"

- Judi Adler

His name is Peter Quillin. Among hardcore boxing fans and people in the New York City area he is known as "Kid Chocolate". His close friends call him "Petey". At 20-0, 15 KO's, he is one of boxing's fastest rising middleweight contenders and perhaps the future middleweight champion of the world. If you have not heard of him, you will soon!

Peter Quillin was born in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and now resides in the hotbed of great past and present boxing talent Brooklyn, New York. Born on June 22, 1983, this Cuban-American is acquiring an extremely large following especially in the New York City area. He signed with Cedric Kushner Promotions in 2006. Eighteen of his twenty fights have taken place in New York. Peter has knocked out 11 of his first 12 opponents in 2 rounds or less.

Peter acquired the nickname "Kid Chocolate" from someone in the boxing gym that said he resembled the Cuban native Eligio Sardinias-Montalbo. Sardinias-Montalbo was first given that nickname and inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991. However, Eligio Sardinias-Montalbo fought most of his career at Featherweight. Eligio was the Junior Lightweight champ from 1931-1933 and the New York World Featherweight champ from 1932-1934. He was one of the most popular fighters in New York in the late 1920's through the 1930's. Like Quillin, Sardinias-Montalbo possessed exceptional speed and power in both hands. His notable fights were against Jackie "Kid" Berg (twice - L10 1930, L15 1932), Benny Bass (TKO 7 1931), Tony Canzoneri (twice - L15 1931, KO'D 2 1933), Lew Feldman (TKO 12 1932) and Johnny Farr (4 times - 3 Times W10 in 1932, W10 1933).

I have had the privilege to witness over half of Peter's fights live. He looks more mature each time he steps foot into the ring. Peter appears patient and composed when on the offensive and calm on defense. He does not panic when under attack. That comes from believing in himself through his corner men, quality training and acquired ring experience. He also possesses devastating punching power with either hand. Peter has tremendous hand speed, agility, and athletic ability. Peter hits harder, or just as hard as any middleweight out there.

At Peter's 2nd professional fight, I was approached by someone and asked, "What do I think of him?" I replied, "He has the potential to be a champion someday, as long as he stays on the right path and continues to train hard. He has the tools, but looks a little raw." My observation told me that he did not have many amateur fights. Peter had only 15 amateur fights and it shows just how far he has come in a short period of time.

A few of his notable wins have come against Dionisio Miranda (W10) and Antwun Echols (W10). Antwun Echols battled the living legend Bernard Hopkins twice. Bernard Hopkins once said that no one hit him harder than Antwun Echols. His last fight was against veteran Sam Hill. Quillin defeated Sam Hill by TKO 10 in Manchester, New Hampshire on 9/17/08.

Some potential fan-favorite match ups in the near future could be against James McGirt Jr., Joe Greene, Ronald Hearns, Daniel Jacobs, Giovanni Lorenzo and Andy Lee.

One of his trademarks that makes him popular to fight fans, besides throwing sharp left hooks and hard right hands, is his post-fight treats. Quillin carries chocolate candy with him to the ring and showers the crowd with it after the conclusion of his fights.

Peter Quillin trains at the Trinity Boxing Club in Lower Manhattan. On Saturday June 27th, I had the opportunity to speak with him during a break from his rigorous training.

Get cheap boxing gloves by Everlast and Ringside.

Question: What was it like growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan?

Answer: "I fought in the streets all the time. Something had to change, so I moved to New York."

Question: How did that whole process happen?

Answer: "My manager John Seip said to come to New York City. Then, I met Colin Morgan at the Crunch Gym in 2004. We clicked and he became my trainer. I'm going in the direction I'm going because of him. I was supposed to work with some people who work with Floyd Mayweather Jr. out in Las Vegas, but decided to make New York City my new home. I went to the Trinity Boxing Club. Martin Snow, who is owner of the gym thought that I would be good at training people. While training in the gym, I teach people here how to box."

Question: How valuable was the experience you took away after fighting Antwun Echols?

Answer: "I learned as much in that fight as my previous 17 combined."

Question: How has your sparring helped you to get where you have gotten so far?

Answer: "I've sparred with Guillermo Jones, Sechew Powell, Travis Simms, Curtis Stevens and Danny Jacobs. Most of my sparring took place in Brooklyn. Each sparring partner brings something different to the table."

Question: What did you think of Danny Jacobs' win last night?

Answer: "He looked good."

Question: What was your sparring session with Danny Jacobs like?

Answer: "People think there are winners in sparring. I sparred with him before his pro debut about a 1 year ago. We both held our own."

Question: How do you feel about how your career has gone thus far?

Answer: "I'm just building my career one brick at a time. It won't be a house until I am a world champion."

Question: What is your biggest asset, either offensively or defensively?

Answer: "My brute power."

Question: What's your favorite place to fight?

Answer: "Madison Square Garden."

Question: Who is the best fighter out there?

Answer: "Arthur Abraham."

Question: Really? What about Kelly Pavlik?

Answer: "I hope I have the opportunity to fight both of them someday."

Question: What do you think of the middleweights out there?

Answer: "They are all going to have to fight me eventually."

Question: Are other fighters avoiding you now?

Answer: "Maybe, I don't know."

Question: Who would you like to fight right now?

Answer: "Paul Williams - I envision I can take him with no problem. It would be a great fight for him once he knows who I am."

Question: When is your next fight?

Answer: "It's scheduled for August 19th in New York."

Question: What's your approach to training?

Answer: "If you do something go all out. I'm in the gym all the time....staying ready."

Question: What are you weighing now?

Answer: "I'm walking around at my fight weight." (Peter than showed me a picture taking last Saturday.) He looked in phenomenal shape and has extremely ripped abs.

Question: What are your hobbies?

Answer: "I enjoy playing video games and I have exotic pets."

Question: What type of exotic pets?

Answer: "I have 4 snakes, 1 cat, a tarantula, 2 scorpions that have 11-12 babies each, a pacman frog, and a parrot named Frankie Quillin.

Question: Why did you name him Frankie?

Answer: "It's my good friend Christian's middle name."

Question: Lastly, where did you get the idea to throw chocolate candy into the audience after your fights?

Answer: "A friend that was at Trinity told me as a joke to do it."

I would like to thank Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin for taking the time to do this interview along with the Trinity Boxing Club located in Lower Manhattan.

Sources: (The Boxing Register - International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record Book 4th Edition Roberts, James B. and Skutt, Alexander G.
pp 154-155)

6/27/09 HBO

MAIDANA UPSETS ORTIZ

Marcos Rene Maidana showed tremendous heart, courage and a will to win on Saturday night stopping Victor Ortiz in 6 rounds. This junior welterweight from Argentina got up from knockdowns in the 1st round and twice in the 2nd round to emerge victorious in front of the crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. He dropped Ortiz once in the 1st round and again in round 6. Maidana showed great bravery trading shots with Ortiz every round. The ringside doctor called for the fight to be stopped after observing Ortiz during round 6 after Maidana knocked him down.

Round 1: Maidana attacks Ortiz. He is pressing forward and landed a left hook to Ortiz's head.
Ortiz tries to get inside, but Maidana lands another left hook to the head. Maidana lands an overhand right. Ortiz lands a hard counter right hook that drops Maidana near the ropes. Maidana gets up and floors Ortiz with a straight right to the head. Maidana jumps on an unsteady Ortiz. Ortiz lands a short left uppercut and right hook to Maidana's head. Ortiz lands a flurry and Maidana counters with a right.

Round 2: Maidana lands an overhand right. Maidana coming forward and Ortiz is trying to counter him. An overhand right followed by a left hook to the body lands for Maidana. Ortiz fires back. Ortiz lands a right uppercut-right hook combination. Maidana is making Ortiz fight at a furious pace. Ortiz drops Maidana with a hard right hook to the head. Ortiz jumps on him again landing a right uppercut. A straight left sends Maidana into the ropes. Another right hook to the head floors Maidana.

Round 3: Both fighters jab to the body. Maidana lands an overhand right. Ortiz responds with a volume of punches. Maidana stuns Ortiz with a right to the head. Maidana attacks, but backs off when Ortiz lands a right hook. Ortiz hits Maidana with a straight left.

Round 4: Maidana hits Ortiz with a right. Ortiz nails Maidana with a straight left. Maidana is throwing wild punches. Ortiz hits Maidana with a right hook to the head.

Round 5: Ortiz lands a short right uppercut and then swarms Maidana with a volume of punches. He hits Maidana with a right uppercut. Maidana lands a solid right to Ortiz's head. Ortiz lands an overhand left. Chasing Ortiz, Maidana lands a short left uppercut. Ortiz lands a right hook to the body, but Maidana counters with a sharp left hook that cuts Ortiz above his right eye. Ortiz fights back and Maidana lands a right. Both fighters are throwing knockout like punches. Maidana lands consecutive hard right hands to Ortiz's head. The last one caused huge swelling under Ortiz's left eye.

Round 6: Maidana attacks and lands an overhand right. Maidana drops Ortiz with a series of rights. The ringside doctor looks at Ortiz and stops the fight.

Ortiz was battling hard, but when he got in trouble, he faded under pressure. Ortiz looked as if he did not want to fight entering the 6th round. After the fight, he told HBO's analyst Max Kellerman that he rather lose like this than on his back because he wants to speak well when he's older. Ortiz also said that he has a lot of thinking to do because he should not be taking a beating like this.

Are you kidding me? Well, welcome to boxing Victor! Victor Ortiz is a disgrace and here is why. There are fighters out there, who are waiting for an opportunity that may never come, to fight on a major network such as HBO. Fighters are training right now in gyms, hoping that one day they can fight on television. Ortiz is an embarrassment to HBO, Golden Boy Promotions and himself. He does not have the true character that "real" fighters have deep down when the going gets tough. Especially in these economic times, there are many guys out there that could really use the opportunity to showcase their skills on HBO, Showtime, ESPN2, Versus.....that would NEVER quit.

With all this being said, full credit goes out to Marcos Rene Maidana in his first fight in the United States. Hopefully, HBO will be showing Maidana again. Maidana is a guy that leaves it all out there knowing his opportunity may never come again. Maybe Golden Boy Promotions has been promoting the wrong guy? It is upsetting that some fighters are being promoted in this day and age like they are hall of famers way before they have proved anything. Hopefully, Ortiz will not be receiving air time from the networks again. That opportunity needs to be truly earned and awarded to someone like Marcos Rene Maidana. For fighters that show the effort and guts like Maidana, why does it take so long for a network to give them an opportunity?

Marcos Rene Maidana improves his record to 26-1, 25 KO's. His lone defeat was a razor thin 12 round split decision loss to Andriy Kotelnik in Germany. Victor Ortiz's record drops to 24-2-1, 19 KO's.

6/27/09 TOP RANK PPV

Lopez Forces Lontchi To Quit On Stool After 9 Rounds

Round 1: Lopez pushes Lontchi back with a combination. Lontchi circles as Lopez presses forward throwing a right jab and right hook. Lontchi lands a left hook to the body. Lopez fires a straight left followed by a right hook to Lontchi's head. Lontchi walked into a right hook. Lopez placed a good right hook to the body.

Round 2: Lopez is aggressively coming forward landing straight lefts and right hooks. A straight left - right hook combo drops Lontchi in the corner. Lopez lands a counter right hook to the head.

Round 3: Lopez continues to press forward landing a series of straight lefts and right hooks.

Round 4: Lopez gets Lontchi in the corner and bangs away with a right hook to the body. Lontchi fires a straight right to Lopez's head. With Lopez attacking, Lontchi lands a counter left hook to the body while against the ropes. Lopez continues to fire and land his punches in volume; just landed a right jab - straight left.

Round 5: Lopez hits Lontchi with a right hook to the body. Lontchi lands a good straight right to Lopez's head. Lontchi nails Lopez with a straight right again to the head. Lopez hits Lontchi in the head with his right jab.

Round 6: Lopez presses forward throwing combinations off his right jab. He landed some solid right hooks to Lontchi's body toward the end of the round.

Round 7: Lopez is firing a series of left uppercuts. Lontchi is trying to fight Lopez off with his back against the ropes. Lopez is ripping hard shots to Lontchi's body with his right hook and throwing straight lefts.

Round 8: Lopez has really worn down Lontchi with his assault. Lopez is trying to stop him.

Round 9: Lopez lands a right hook to Lontchi's head. Lopez swarms Lontchi with punches. Lontchi fires a straight right to Lopez's body. Lopez knocks Lontchi down with a straight left to the head. Lontchi gets tagged with a right hook. Lopez is trying to finish him; lands a right hook to the body. Lontchi quits on stool!

Overall Summary: Juan Manuel Lopez is the complete fighter at 122 lbs. After the fight, he said he may have just one more fight at 122 lbs. before moving up to take on tougher opponents. Tonight, he systematically broke down a previously undefeated Olivier Lontchi with effective aggressiveness and landing a large volume of punches.

The 25 year old southpaw from Puerto Rico took the fight to Lontchi from the opening bell and forced him to quit on his stool after round 9. Lontchi never got into any kind of groove and was constantly being chased around the ring by Lopez. Lopez threw his combinations off his stiff right jab. As the fight got into the later rounds, the body punching of Lopez had a huge effect on Lontchi's performance. Lopez found openings and placed his punches well especially with Lontchi on the ropes. Lontchi's best round came in the 5th when he landed a few good straight rights to Lopez's head, but Lopez took the shots well and continued to be the aggressor. Lopez has very good balance and threw better combinations as the fight went into the later rounds.

Juan Manuel Lopez improves his record to 26-0, 24 KO's. His last 14 wins have come by knockout. Olivier Lontchi's record drops to 18-1-2, 8 KO's.