By Derek Bonnett: Peter Quillin, also known as Kid Chocolate, will have the opportunity to separate himself from the pack of current middleweight hopefuls on April 16 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. His assignment will be the always-formidable Antwun Echols, who has fought in three major world championship bouts while compiling a 31-7-4 (27) record. Quillin will headline the ESPN2 broadcast, which will also feature heavyweight hopeful Chazz Witherspoon.
While fellow middleweight prospects John Duddy and Andy Lee have hit varying degrees of stumbling blocks this year, Quillin, 17-0 (14), has the chance to show up his contemporaries with an impressive showing in the most important bout of his young career. Anything less will cause many experts to question Kid Chocolate’s future in the division similarly to the criticism Duddy and Lee have been forced to endure in 2008.
Colin Morgan, Quillin’s trainer, doesn’t feel younger fighters like Duddy and Lee should be treated too harshly for their recent bouts and offered his insight.
“Andy Lee is young and has talent, so he needs to go back to the drawing board and come back stronger. John Duddy trains too hard and maybe he leaves something in the gym,” Morgan explained.
So far this year a number of seasoned veterans have been able to utilize their experience, and overcome a much younger nemesis, to re-establish themselves in the boxing world. Antwun Echols will be looking to do the same in spite of having gone 0-2-3 since 2005.
“Echols’ experience and power is no concern to me [because] ‘you can’t hit what you can’t see’,” Morgan rationalized. “Pete is too fast and hits too hard, so Echols should be worried about Pete’s speed and power. Older fighters have outfoxed younger fighters in the past, [but] I always have plan A, B and C.”
Quillin expressed similar confidence in stating, “I’m young and wise and understand the odds that I will face, but I’m a person who works through the pressure. I’m not going into this fight to be a fox; I’m the hunter and I’m going to perform in that manner.”
The biggest names in the middleweight division right now are Kelly Pavlik, Jermain Taylor, Arthur Abraham, and Winky Wright. Kid Chocolate has quite a ways to go before his name can be mentioned in that company, but a solid win over Echols could easily catapult him into the lower echelon of the top ten. Once that happens for Quillin, anything is possible in a division where Edwin Ayala and Gary Lockett will have both received title shots by mid-year. However, Kid Chocolate isn’t overly anxious to get a title shot or climb the rankings too quickly.
“No rush, my time is near anyways. It would just be good for me to gain more fans after these fights,” said Quillin.
Both Quillin and Echols can punch with either hand, so the fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom can expect a KO. Echols hasn’t scored one in awhile, so he might be itching to let his hands go. Quillin’s dilemma is he can’t decide which punch he likes best, but Morgan put things into perspective for us all.
“Pete can bomb with both hands. His money punch is the one that lands the right place at the right time,” joked Morgan. “A win here will likely put Peter in everybody’s top ten.”
Morgan feels confident Peter can score an early KO of Echols without doing much different than he has so far as a pro. Peter feels he will possess a different mental and physical edge he may have lacked in previous bouts.
“Well, I’m going to be the same Kid Chocolate you’ve been seeing. The difference is that I’m going to be 100% for this fight mentally and physically,” admitted Quillin. “I’m ready like I was born to do this. If he brings his best like he should, it shall be a great fight to watch.”
In closing, three questions remain:
Can Echols join the senior club of fighters like Verno Phillips, Nate Campbell, and Joel Casamayor and turn back the challenge of a young prospect?
Can Quillin put the exclamation point on the big win unlike Duddy and Lee?
Who’s anxious to find out?
April 8, 2008
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