Promoter and CEO of DiBella Entertainment Lou DiBella looked ahead to a huge evening for one of his fighters with Thaboxingvoice.com, as Andy Lee(34-2, 24KO’s) defends his WBO World Middleweight title against Peter Quillin(31-0, 22KO’s) at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York on April 11th.
Lee won the vacant title(dropped by Quillin last year) in December against Matt Korobov and was due to defend it against his mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders until this fight became available. Saunders took step aside money to wait for his shot a little while longer and now Quillin has a chance to regain his belt. DiBella certainly feels this was the better option for Lee.
“This was the biggest fight that was available to Andy, and it’s a huge night for him and I’m excited he’s getting the opportunity to be showcased on NBC, this giant platform. Quillin is obviously tough, he didn’t lose his belt in the ring he lost it on, you know, err, decision-making.”
Quillin had a plethora of personal issues to contend with throughout the latter stages of his championship reign, like the birth of his son and watching on as his uncle battled cancer. He put boxing to the side for a while but now he’s back, and he wants his title.
Dibella feels Lee’s new explosive style under trainer Adam Booth -which has brought him two spectacular knockout wins in a row when he was trailing on the cards- will gel perfectly with Quillin’s own hard-hitting approach to create something well worth watching.
“There’s no way in the world that’s gonna be anything, but an exciting fight, that’s gonna be a great fight and I’m gonna pick my own guy, I’m gonna pick Andy.”
No surprise there. What is surprising, however, is this fight isn’t even at the top of the bill. Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson occupy that position with their non-title affair at a 143 .lb catchweight. Lee and Quillin could have topped this card without anybody uttering a word, such is the quality of the fighters involved and the surrounding story behind it. Hopefully, Lee can continue in his current good form and Quillin will seek to match him.
