By Victor Salazar
New York, New York - The middleweight division is loaded with big fights in the next few months. Next Saturday night, Gennady Golovkin will take on David Lemieux in a WBA/IBO/IBF unification. In November, Miguel Cotto defends his WBC title against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. In December, Peter Quillin (30-1, 23 KO’s) will challenge fellow Brooklyn fighter Danny Jacobs for the WBA 'regular' title. And sometime next year, Andy Lee will defend his IBF title against Billy Joe Saunders.
Quillin has gotten a lot of criticism for not confronting Golovkin when the fight was red hot, but says fans need to understand why certain fights can’t be made.
“First of all, the biggest fights [for me] are the two ahead of me [and they involve] Gennady Golovkin and Miguel Cotto,” Quillin told BoxingScene.com. “Personally I want those fights to happen. A lot of those fights are out of my power. You don’t think I want to fight Golovkin, especially if there’s money there?”
The big issue, says Quillin, is the reluctance of certain promoters to match their fighters against anyone who is managed or advised by Al Haymon. To further complicate matters, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions have filed separate lawsuits against Haymon for illegal business practices.
Quillin is hopeful that the recent fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will open the door for fights between boxers aligned with Haymon and those belonging to other promoters.
“I think Mayweather and Pacquiao happened but look how much money had to be in the pot for that to happen,” explained the former middleweight title holder. “This was one of the first fights HBO and Showtime came together for. That’s the kind of money I’m talking about; 5 million, 10 million, Mayweather just got 280 million for Pacquiao, and I’d be cool with 5 million or 10 million. I can’t sit down here and be excited about these fights but sometimes you just can’t be because of what the business is.”
But when it comes to doing business, Quillin knows a lot of boxing people don’t want to do business with Haymon.
“A lot of people don’t want to do business with Al because he’s fair to the fighter,” said Quillin. “Fighters don’t bad talk about Al. look at Andre Dirrell who left Al and came back but it’s all a part of the business, that’s why I don’t take it so personal.”
A lot of Haymon fighters take criticism because of the belief that Haymon picks the least resistance for certain fighters. But Quillin says it’s up to the fighter more than Haymon if the fighter chooses to do so.
“At the end of the day it should be the fighter. I managed my money and paying my taxes but I don’t manage my fights. I thought to myself wouldn’t this fight be worth more down the line, maybe a David Lemiuex fight but then Al put me in with a bigger fight in Andy Lee. Even with this fight, I didn’t even think it would come but then Al put it together.”
