By Luis Sandoval
Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin has definitely made a name for himself in the middleweight division as he’s managed to remained undefeated and captured his first world title last year in front of his hometown. After two dominate performances since, Quillin is looking to cap of 2013 with his second title defense against the always tough Gabriel Rosado on October 26th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.
What many are now anxious to see is Quillin mix it up with the other champions in the division and begin to unify the titles. With Kid Chocolate now being one of the major players at middleweight, BoxingScene asked him how he ranked himself with the other three reigning champions.
“I'm going to say I'm right behind Sergio Martinez because he has the credit that everyone is chasing. And once you have everybody trying to chase that guy, then that's the guy. So it's Sergio Martinez and me number two because I'm an animal” Quillin would tell BoxingScene.
“I'm not going to place anybody before me but he has that credit and none of the other champions are doing anything special that I'm not doing already. As far as what I'm doing, I'm doing something special because I got 15 amateur fights. They're comparing me with guys who got over 300 to 400 amateur fights. In professional fights, I got 29 wins, 21 knockouts. In my last three fights I've [scored] 11 knockdowns in those three fights including hall of famer Winky Wright”.
Despite a lackluster performance and absence for most of the year due to knee surgery, Martinez is still considered the man to beat at 160 pounds. Some rest and a new knee may be exactly what Martinez needs at 38 years old or it may be what will cause his decline; that is yet to be seen.
On the topic of Martinez, Quillin was asked if he felt Martinez’s performance against Martin Murray this past April and his surgery were indications that he was on a decline.
“I think he only has the power to be able to say that about himself. As far as what we saw, I would say yes [he’s on a decline]. But only he knows and like I said, every fighter is looking for that dignifying performance. Look at Bernard Hopkins and what he's doing. He went through up and downs in his career and we still can't count him out so I think we can't count Sergio Martinez out” said Quillin.
A fight with Quillin and Martinez, albeit difficult to make due to the network conflict, would be a fight many fans would like to see. Quillin feels confident if he got the opportunity to face the kingpin of the division, he’d not only beat him but retire him.
“I think if I had the opportunity to fight him, I think I would be the new reigning champion and I'll make sure he'd have to retire in the old folks home” said Quillin with a smile.
Before any other fight possibilities can be discussed, Quillin must first take care of business against Gabriel Rosado.
You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter and Instagram @Truewest007.
