Peter Quillin is the kind of fighter generally beloved by boxing fans. He’s an aggressive, entertaining presence with knockout power and just a porous enough defense to make each of his fights interesting.
He’s active and accessible on social media and he rarely has a negative thing to say about anyone.
Peter Quillin (R) punches Lukas Konecny during their WBO middleweight world championship match in 2014. (AP) If you see Quillin, his 15-month old son Joaquin Enriquez will be somewhere in tow. Quillin enjoys nothing better than turning on a camera, lying on his back and asking Joaquin to make animal sounds.
“What does the lion say?” Quillin will inevitably ask Joaquin, whose face will brighten after he roars, because he can see how much his father loves it.
“What does the dog say?” Quillin will ask. After Joaquin does his impression of a bark, the former world champion grins from ear-to-ear and embraces his son.
He passes the lonely hours in training camp doting on his son, playing games with his father and chatting up his wife on FaceTime.
He faces the biggest test of his career on Saturday when he meets Daniel Jacobs at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Showtime for the WBA middleweight title.
It’s one of the year’s best fights on paper, and it pits two talented but gentlemanly athletes. Jacobs, who is the champion, has deservedly earned the respect of the sport and the fan base for his courageous battle in overcoming cancer.
Quillin, though, hasn’t been so widely accepted by the fans. But to Jacobs, when he looks across the ring at Quillin, he concedes he’ll see a man very much in his own mold.
“This is a fan-friendly fight because of our styles, but also because of who we are as people,” Jacobs said. “I think fans love both of us and they’ve gotten a chance to know us. [Showtime’s preview series] All-Access gave them a look into what it’s like for us. I think that showed people not just us as fighters, but also allowed them to connect to us more as human beings.
“I think it makes a better story, because there are two likeable guys and both of them, you don’t want to see them take a loss. Someone has to, and so it tears the loyalties up. But in a lot of ways, I’m fighting a guy who is a mirror image of me. There are so many similarities and the things he’s fighting for are the very same things I hold high on my list of priorities.”
Quillin, though, remains the object of scorn and ridicule from many in the sport’s hardcore fan base for his decision to pass up a career-high payday in 2014 for a fight against Matt Korobov. He surrendered his title rather than meet Korobov, and fans who had no idea what went into the decision were outraged.
To that extent, the failure of Quillin, one of the sport’s true good guys, to resonate with the public is more of a failure of promotion and the media to tell his story. The offer of the Korobov bout came at a time in his life when his beloved uncle was dying and his wife was about to give birth.
“People get mad about it, but I’m OK with it because I know they don’t know the facts,” said Quillin, who went in depth with his story with Yahoo Sports in March. “As a fan of the sport, I understand their passion.”
View gallery .
Daniel Jacobs (R) connects with Caleb Truax during a middleweight fight at the UIC Pavilion on April 24, 2015. ? Quillin prepared for the Jacobs fight in Miami, away from his adopted hometown of New York, where he felt there would be too many distractions.
He keeps a small circle, and even as he has ascended the ranks in the sport, hasn’t succumbed to the urge to develop a big entourage as so many of his peers do.
Everyone on his team has had a relationship with him for at least 15 years, many longer. And they all follow a Quillin-ordered code of conduct.
“These people have been with me from the start, and they’re going to be with me from the beginning, and I’m thankful for the kind of friends and the kind of human beings I have around me,” he said. “They’ll never let me get too big for my own britches. I realize my place in the world and within this group.
“We keep it tight. The bigger the group, the bigger the entourage, the more liabilities you have. The smaller it is, you can more easily stay within a code of conduct. It’s not about me. We all have our roles and our jobs, and we do them to the best of our abilities, and we all agree to conduct ourselves in the right way.”
He trains in peace, knowing he can trust his friends to tell him if they feel things aren’t going right. He’s not looking for “yes” men who want to slap him on the back, tell him how great he is and figure out a way to get themselves on television.
Quillin expects much from his team members, and they from him. He said he’s able to eliminate problems and better guarantee he’ll be at his best on fight night, when it counts.
“I don’t bash someone who has a big entourage if that’s what they want or if that’s what works for them,” he said. “But I view it like, more people lead to more chaos and more chaos leads to more stress. I don’t need that and I have my preferred way of doing things.
“I just try to be humble at all times and be a man of God. God is No. 1 in my life and I try to live the right way. When I do that, I feel good about myself and I find that I do my best work.”
On Saturday, he’ll get the chance to show the world just what a drama-free camp can mean to a man.
He’s not sure how the crowd will react, since both boxers are from Brooklyn and loyalties will be divided. But he knows it’s going to be a big night.
“You get into this sport and you dream of nights like this against a great champion like Daniel Jacobs,” Quillin said. “He has an incredible story of not just fighting cancer, but beating cancer, and people love him for that. He’s a great fighter and this is a big, important fight for both of us.
“I’m blessed to be where I am and to have gotten to this position. I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m excited to get in there and show people what we can do.”
