In what promises to be an exciting contest hard hitting WBO Middleweight champion Peter Quillin (28-0, 20) takes on the once beaten Fernando Guerrero (25-1, 19) in what will be Quillin's first defense of the title since winning it last October against Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam.
This bout, on paper at least, looks like it's a pretty even match up between an unbeaten fighter and a fighter with just a solitary loss on his record (and even that was almost 2 years ago) though at least for me it's not actually as even as it looks. In fact I can only see one winner, Quillin.
Whilst Guerrero, as mentioned has only suffered a single loss in 26 bouts dating back to 2007 the Dominican Republic born, US based fighter doesn't have anything that really makes me feel he can beat Quillin. From watching him he's a decent fighter don't get me wrong, he has solid power, nice speed and nice skills but the bigger thing with him has been the hype he has received.
After having had an impressive amateur career with around 140 bouts a lot was expected for Guerrero who started his professional career with a fantastic series of KO early on. After scoring 9 straight T/KO victories including some very eye catching ones the hype machine really started to grow on Guerrero though it wasn't until October 2009 that he actually faced a test of note. In his first test Guerrero seriously struggled with limited veteran Ossie Duran who pushed him all the way.
After struggling with Duran, Guerrero's handlers seemed to slow down his climb giving him 2 easy bouts before he was against tested by current IBF Light Middleweight champion Ishe Smith. Smith, like Duran showed that Guerrero wasn't anything special and although Guerrero won he was again pushed close and dropped by the sneaky Smith.
It appeared to only be a matter of time before Guerrero would suffer a defeat and it came just a few fights later as veteran Grady Brewer managed to stop him on a televised bout. This should have ended the hype for Guerrero but instead it was excused as Guerrero making Light Middleweight for the first time, which whilst possibly valid was a decision he had made.
Since the loss Guerrero has scored 4 victories over C level opponents with 3 of those by T/KO as he's tried to resurrect his career. Sadly the level of those wins suggest that his management are taking a real leap of faith here.
Going in to this bout Quillin is not only the champion (albeit it a bit of a paper one) but also an unbeaten fighter fighting in his home of Brooklyn with a large support.
Whilst I'm not a fan of how Quillin got his title, beating Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam who had been given a belt that belonged to Dmitry Pirog, Quillin is a genuine top 10 fighter in one of the toughest divisions in the sport. His unbeaten run dating back to 2005 has seen him scoring several notable wins since 2008 when he announced himself as a top contender with lights out power and under-rated boxing ability.
With wins over Antwun Echols, Dionisio Miranda, Fernando Zuniga, Jesse Brinkley, Craig McEwan and Ronald "Winky" Wright on his way up it's fair to say that even in none title bouts Quillin has 6 better Middleweight wins than Guerrero (who's best win, over Smith came against a natural Light Middleweight) and that's with out mentioning the win over N'Dam N'Jikam.
With thunderous power in his shots, a patient style and an ability to either box from a distance with single shots, close the gap or open up in a burst. With Guerrero having been down against Duran, Smith and Brewer I really cannot see anyway in which he can stand up to the power of Quillin who may not have finished off N'Dam N'jikam last time out but he did drop him 6 times.
Guerrero might be a pretty decent fighter but his record is poor, his skills are over-rated and his chin is a major question mark, a question mark you don't want when facing a puncher like Quillin.
Prediction-Quillin by KO7
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