Undefeated super middleweight Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (22-0 with 16 KOs) will open up his 2011 campaign he returns to the ring February 11th to take on Dennis Sharpe (17-5-3 with 4 KOs) in a scheduled eight rounder at the Sports Center in Fairfield, CA. Kid Chocolate made his debut in the summer of 2005, and since then has had nothing but success, with some down-time duie to injury mixed in. The twenty-seven year old fighter plans on continuing the win streak come fight night. In this exclusive interview conducted by Boxingtalk, Quillin speaks out on his upcoming fight and more.
Benny Henderson Jr.: You have a fight coming up February 11th against Dennis Sharpe, what type of fight are you expecting from Sharpe?
Peter Quillin: Well, by his name I am expecting him to be sharp. (We both laugh) You know, I know what this game is all about; I have trained hard for this fight as I do with every fight. I am going to take him serious, I am going to take him like he is Sergio Martinez or Paul Williams, and I am not going in there to play around with this guy. I have prepared very well with my conditioning coach, Michael Valle, and I feel good that I am at the Wild Card gym training under the guidance of Freddie Roach, and Eric Brown, they have been doing a very good job with me. I have a lot of confidence right now going into this fight and winning it in spectacular fashion.
BH: Freddie Roach has a great stable of fighters under his tutelage, but with that, plus the popularity of the Wild Card Gym, it would seem with all the people coming in and out that it could possibly be a bit of a distraction, is that so?
PQ: I figure this, I go in there and do what I have to do, and that is what I am worried about more so, I don?t let distractions bother me. We fight in Casinos and in front of rowdy crowds so you have to be used to that kind of stuff. I just really look at winning as a way to prepare me to a superstar level, with that being said, the Wild Card Gym is a great place to be around other great fighters, there are great fighters to your right, great fighters to your left, so it is like I am in the building so I have to be a great fighter as well. Freddie has a good system in there; he has me working with Eric Brown as well, so I feel very happy that I am able to train there. I am able to get things there that I haven?t gotten before, like great sparring, and that is what it is.
BH: Looking at the resume of Dennis Sharpe, he has had a win over Dhafir Smith, who just had the win over former world champion Jeff Lacy. Now he is coming off five consecutive losses to decent opposition. Now some people can look at this and say Sharpe is not going to be a match-up, but, in my opinion Dennis has nothing to lose, he is going into the ring with you with his back against the wall, and to me with a guy who has nothing to lose can be a very dangerous fighter. Would you agree or disagree with that?
PQ: I would agree, if you were to corner a rat, would the rat want to bite you or fight you, of course it would. Like I said I am not here to corner a rat I am here to fight this rat and do what I have to do to establish my dominance, my rhythm, and establish me as a top level fighter. How I do that is go perform well and give the people a show. I am polished pro now, I have twenty-two wins under my belt with sixteen knock outs, I just need to open the eyes of the people and let them know what kind of fighter that I am, and that is what I am going to be doing come February 11th.
BH: 2010 was a good year for you, you had the two wins, but with it being 2011 do you feel you can be more active and productive than last year?
PQ: Yes of course, I told my promoter that I would fight every twelve weeks or however often they want to fight me. We are shooting for bigger names; I am with a new team and have Golden Boy as my promoter. I have Freddie Roach and Eric Brown working with me. I have a conditioning coach Michael Valle, doing a lot of things that I felt I needed to do in the first place. I have the hardest working manager in the business John Seip who is providing a lot of these things for me and I am grateful for that. I even have a publicist now, Jessica Mercedes, she is basically getting me out there to people who really don?t follow boxing, I am very fortunate to have these things provided for me.
BH: What can the fight fans expect from Kid Chocolate come fight night?
PQ: They can expect a fight, they can expect Kid Chocolate come up in there and do what he normally does, and that is to come win big and put on a show. When they see me they are going to see a fighter who loves what he does, it is not just a way of life for me, but it is also my job, and I respect it that much that I do everything that I am supposed to do, I am not missing a day in the gym or making any excuses. I am there to win, so when they see me, they are going to start following me on my twitter, which is www.twitter.com/kidchocolate so they can see what I am really about, and I am doing this everyday. I do what I have to do. I am just happy that you gave me a call right now, right now you are hearing a totally different guy right now, you might not know it, but I feel great Benny, I am just going to respect this sport to know that I have to do these things to be great.
BH: Well, I will honestly go on record and say this, I have been interviewing you for a few years now, and have really gotten to know you, and I will go on record and say that you are a class act, I believe that you are a breath of fresh air for this sport and can be an ambassador of boxing. And as a fan of boxing I appreciate you for what you do for this sport, as well as the man you are in and out of the ring. This sport needs good role models and I believe you are one.
PQ: Thank you, that is why you are probably the only person who can call me at the spur of the moment and I answer the call and am happy to hear from you. And that is on the record as well.
BH: I do appreciate that, I there anything in closing that you would like to add or to say to the fans, to the opponent or anybody?
PQ: Yes, I want to thank first and foremost God for providing me with all that I need, I am not going to pray for victory, I am going to just thank Him for the strength that He has been giving me, to go out and perform well, not just in fighting but in training. He has been blessing my body to be strong. I want to thank my father who has been an inspiration to me, he is here, he has been cooking my meals everyday, and I took a trip to Cuba and learned a lot about my father and about what family is all about. I am happy to have the hard working people that I have working for me, Golden Boy, Freddie Roach, Eric Brown, my manager John Seip. I also want to thank my publicist Jessica Mercedes; I have hard working people around me. I want to thank my friends and my fans for supporting me and want good things to happen for me, I hold myself accountable for everything that I do, they can check me out on Twitter, and I want to thank you Benny Henderson and Boxingtalk.
