By Jake Donovan

Peter Quillin has a way to go before proving himself to be the best middleweight in the world. Saturday night was a nice next step, dominating Fernando Guerrero in Brooklyn at the exact same time lineal champ Sergio Martinez delivered an uneven performance in Argentina.

The Showtime-televised co-feature saw Quillin drop Guerrero four times en route to a seventh-round knockout at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Quillin jumped out to a quick start, never giving Guerrero a chance to get into the fight, save for a brief exchange midway through the opening round. A short right hand put Guerrero flat on his back early in round two, producing the bout’s first knockdown. Guerrero took the eight count, but struggled to collect his faculties as Quillin floored him moments later with a straight right along the ropes.

A third knockdown nearly occurred, only for Guerrero to barely keep his knee off of the canvas. Quillin continued to pursue the knockout, but never to the point of abandoning his boxing skills.

Guerrero was all heart in going toe-to-toe with the unbeaten titlist, including an aesthetically pleasing give-and-take sixth round. Quillin appeared to tire towards the end of the frame, while Guerrero was suddenly full of swagger.

The Dominican southpaw began feeling himself a little much, as Quillin scored the third knockdown of the fight early in round seven. A right hand sent Guerrero reeling across the ring, but nowhere nearly as damaging as the follow up shot that put him down and out.

The official time was 1:30 of round seven.

Quillin improves to 29-0 (21KO) with the win, which marked the first defense of the title he won in this very building six months ago.

Guerrero falls to 25-2 (19KO), falling way short in his first major title bid.

UNDERCARD RESULTS

Middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs (25-1, 22KOs) knocked out Kennan Collins (15-8-3) in four rounds.

Former welterweight champion Luis Collazo (33-5, 17KOs) stopped Miguel Callist (27-9-1) in the fifth round.

Junior middleweight prospect Eddie Gomez (15-0, 10KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision over Luis Hernandez (22-5). The scores were 80-70, 80-70 and 80-71.

Junior middleweight Boyd Melson (11-1-1, 4KOs) won a six round unanimous decision over Edgar Perez (5-4). The scores were 60-53, 60-53 and 59-54.

Heavyweight prospect Marcus Browne (4-0, 4KOs) continued his KO streak with a second round bombing of Tanieal Goyco (4-6).

Junior welterweight prospect Zachary Ochoa (4-0, 3KOs) won a four round unanimous decision over Calvin Smith (2-3). All three of the official judges scored it 40-36.

Bantamweight up and comer Miguel Cartagena (6-0, 3KOs) took an easy four round unanimous nod over Angel Carvajal (2-1). The scorecards were in agreement with a tally of 40-36.

Super middleweight prospect D'Mitrius Ballard (2-0, 2KOs) stopped Marcus Clay (2-6) in two rounds. The fight was scheduled for four.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board, Yahoo Boxing Ratings Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox