So
just how familiar is middleweight contender Peter Quillin with Craig McEwan,
whom he faces this Saturday night in Cancun, Mexicoas the
opening bout on the latest installment of HBO’s “Boxing After Dark”?
Speaking
after a workout at the Wild Card Boxing Club last week, he answered, “Well
enough that I hit him with a right hand there in that back ring.” For much of his pro career, McEwan trained at
the Wild Card, working with renowned cornerman Freddie Roach. “When they called
me for the fight, they were like, ‘The guy that we wanted you to fight has not
accepted the fight but we got another guy.’ I said, ‘What’s the guy’s name?’
They said, ‘Craig McEwan.’”
Quillin
says that they sparred “probably a total of six rounds.”
He
says of McEwan, who's coming off tough knockout loss at the hands of Andy Lee
in March, “He's a tough fighter. I can't take anything away from him. And guess
what? I'm not expecting him to come spar me the same way he's going to fight me
on November 5th.” Trainer Eric Brown, who has worked extensively with
Quillin since he came out west and will be in his corner this weekend, believes
that their knowledge of McEwan will come in handy. “I think it helps
tremendously because we've had enough history with Craig to know what to expect
out of him and of course, there will always be some variables in a fight but
overall, Craig is Craig. He can't be anything but what he is.”
McEwan
was never known for having the most Spartan work ethic while at this gym.
Against Lee, after building an early lead, he collapsed late. Brown wants his
charge to put the heat on from the very beginning. “Peter's going to have to
make the fight for the most part. Peter's going to have to pressure him, go
after him and keep the pressure on him all night, break him down over a period
of five, six rounds and run him outta gas and that's basically what we're going
to have to do. Because Craig is a runner and he's not going to come to Peter
and be aggressive. He's going to look to outbox Peter.”
For
Quillin, this is a watershed moment, his first appearance on HBO after a career
which stalled not-too-long ago is now at that stage where he has yearned to be
for so long. He admits to getting a bit antsy the past few years, saying, “Most
importantly, it came along and I'm just ready for the opportunity. A lot of
fighters, what they do is they lose focus, not having these type of
opportunities. I just kept my eyes on the prize, just kept going and kept
working.”
2009
was a lost year for Quillin as he battled an injury to his right hand,
appendicitis and fractured orbital bone.
“During
the injuries, I got a little discouraged,” he admitted, “but nothing in life is
perfect. I worked through those and I sat down on the bench and I thought a lot
of things through.”
Around
this time, he migrated to Los Angeles from New York and inked a deal with Golden Boy
Promotions. Quillin has worked hard to polish his skills. According to Brown, “He's
gone from being a very strong, kinda raw guy, to now, he's become a much more
polished fighter. Freddie and I have been working hard on developing his boxing
skills more, giving him more of a sense of direction when he's in the ring,
instead of just being out there winging. He's really coming along strong.”
Quillin
says there is no extra pressure to impress on this platform. “No, I'm just going
to go up in there and be ‘Kid Chocolate,’ do what I usually, normally do which
got me here on HBO,” he said. It would certainly help. Recent history has shown
that sometimes just merely winning isn't enough on this stage. Yes, style
points matter- ask Vanes Martirosyan, who was expunged from HBO's airwaves
after his win over Joe Greene last June- but just getting
back on HBO is not the goal.
“Ultimate
goal is a world title shot,” said Quillin, who has a record of 25-0 with 19
knockouts. “That's my ultimate goal. HBO is that step. Every time I step out,
there is a step up the ladder to the top and HBO is the first step of that.”
At
age 28, he's in his physical prime but because of the time lost and the lack of
a real strong résumé, he was considered a bit too green and not worthy of
facing middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in his last outing.
“What
makes me so green?” Quillin asked rhetorically. “I always call for the
opportunity. A lot of guys out there don't want to fight me or some things
don't make sense. This is a business and I totally understand that. I can look at
it as a fighter all the time. ‘I'll fight this guy. I'll fight that guy. I beat
up that guy’ - but that doesn't matter. What matters is that they can put on a
fight and somebody can make money. I've seen that at this level of my career
that that's what it's all about. That's why Sergio Martinez keeps calling out [Manny]
Pacquiao and [Floyd] Mayweather because he wants to make big dollars.”
The
chance at the middleweight crown on October 1st instead went to Darren Barker and according
to Quillin, “[Martinez] got totally exposed as a fighter by a guy that can box,
a guy that can make it an inside fight. I think if Darren could've kept it up a
little longer and he would've shown a lot of people that Sergio Martinez is not
Superman. Nobody is in boxing. I'm not going to sit here and say I'm Superman
but Martinez ain't either.”
While
many believe that he's isn't quite ready for “Maravilla,” Quillin says, “I
would take the fight right away, next week.”
But
perhaps facing Martinez down the line is more ideal. Timing is everything
in life and perhaps the time is now for Quillin to begin this ascent.
“I
think from this point on, we're definitely going to have to step up the
opposition,” said Brown. “It's going to be a challenge to get some of the guys
at the top of the heap to fight him because he's dangerous and everybody knows
it but I think he couldn't be at a better time in his career to step up.”
