Peter ‘Kid Chocolate’ Quillin failed to make the weight on Friday ahead of his bout with Andy Lee and so the WBO middleweight title is no longer on the line.
READ MORE:
Lee vs Quillin fight time: Fight time, live stream and preview.
Lee confident of retaining title vs Quillin: Irishman no longer has to worry about that.
Brook to face Gavin on May 30: All British title fight at the O2 on packed bill.
The pair will still meet on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, but as per the governing body rules the bout will not be for the title after the challenger failed to make the 160-pound limit.
Lee came in at 159.6, while Quillin initially weighed in at 161.4 before taking two hours to try and shed the extra weight in order to comply with the regulations.
However, he came back and still weighed over at 160.6, and so the possibility of winning back his old title is no longer there as he issued an apology to Lee, the fans and his team for letting them down with his lack of professionalism.
“What can I say? I didn’t make weight. I want to apologize to Andy Lee and to all my supporters and fans. I made every effort to make weight but it just wasn’t meant to be, and I have no one else to blame but myself,” Quillin said, as reported by ESPN.
“I may not win a title (Saturday) but I still have a fight to win, and I plan to put on a good performance. I promise to use this as a learning experience for the future. God bless.”
Quillin (31-0, 22 KOs) could now face difficulties in the fight if there are any lasting effects of his attempt to lose the weight which could have left him drained or dehydrated.
While the champion was already coming into the fight in top form and full of confidence, he will be primed to cause another upset and inflict a first professional defeat on his opponent.
However, it won’t be easy as the American ace has insisted that he still wants to put on a great fight and will do his best to win, and so given the skills and power between the two fighters, Saturday night’s fight still promises to be exciting.
Lee vs Quillin takes place at the Barclays Center along with Danny Garcia’s bout with Lamont Peterson at a catch-weight as the pair clashed at the weigh-in on Friday.
COMMENTS