Patience key for rising star Peter 'Kid Chocolate' Quillin

(Pictures courtesy of Team Chocolate) NEW YORK (June 26, 2012) - With all of the major world middleweight champions tied-up for the immediate future, America's No. 1 160-pound boxer Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin (27-0, 20 KOs) must remain patient, active and confident until he gets his impending title fight. Quillin is coming off of a convincing 10-round unanimous decision win over four-time World Light Middleweight Champion Ronald "Winky" Wright (51-6-1, 25 KOs), whose other five career losses have all been to world champions, live on Showtime. "I have 'Winky' Wright's name on my record," Quillin spoke about his most recent fight.  "He was a great fighter who took the fight with me hoping to get lucky.  I don't believe in luck.  What I learned was I need to keep working hard, stay dedicated to boxing and continue sacrificing, in order to win at this high level.  It was a good experience for me.  "My team has had to slow down my horses as far as who I want to fight.  I have a great team and trust my promoter (Golden Boy Promotions), managers (John Seip and Jim McDevitt), adviser (Al Haymon) and trainers (Freddie Roach and Eric Brown).  All I have to do is train to fight.  They'll tell me who I'm fighting next and I'll be ready.  I'm blessed not to be stressed.  I want to stay busy.  I never put on too many pounds between fights because my life is boxing.  There's no way around it - I will put on a superstar performance in my next fight, no matter who I'm fighting." Quillin has moved up in the ratings, as high as No. 3 in the International Boxing Federation world rankings, in addition to No. 5 by the World Boxing Association and No. 12 by the World Boxing Council.  He recently cracked The Ring Magazine's ratings for the first time at No. 10.   As he waits for the world middleweight championship picture to be settled in the next few months, Team Chocolate hopes to get Quillin right back in the ring against a quality opponent such as former world champion Sebastian Zbik (30-2, 10 KOs) or Mathew "Mack The Knife" Macklin (28-4, 19 KOs), a former European champion and past world title challenger. "Peter is knocking at the door of something special," Seip said.  "We want Peter to stay active, hopefully, fighting again in August and then in December.  We didn't like the long delay between his fight last November against (Craig) McEwan and earlier this month with 'Winky.'  We originally turned down the fight with 'Winky' because the money wasn't right and we were in a no-win situation.  Then we had a fight fall through and we wasted four weeks thinking we had a fight against (Andy) Lee on March 17. We had to get Peter back in the ring, so we agreed to fight 'Winky' with an increased purse and the fight landing on Showtime.  I think what Peter learned from that fight was mostly mental, learning from all it took to fight a future Hall of Famer on a big stage. We were confident of winning all along. I'm happy with the mental preparation Peter went through and it's only going to help him in future fights. Circumstances dictated the delay in Peter fighting but now we intend to keep him busy.  Peter's going to stay in shape and take a lateral fight because there are no title-shot opportunities up for grabs right now.  All of the world champions are tied-up for the next few months." Meanwhile, "Kid Chocolate" took a few days off last weekend to celebrate his 29thbirthday (Friday, June 22) in South Beach (Miami) with his brother, hip-hop artist "Sheddy," whose live music accompanied Quillin into the ring against Wright.  Peter has returned home to Manhattan, where he will continue giving boxing lessons at Trinity Street Gym, and working out there until it's time for him to go back to Los Angeles and open training camp at the Wild Card Gym.     For more information about Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin go online towww.TheKidChocolate.com or follow him on Twitter @/Kid Chocolate.

Undefeated middleweight contender Peter 'Kid Chocolate' Quillin & Gene Tunney's son Jay Guest speakers At Tuesday's Ring 8 Meeting

NEW YORK, NY (June 15, 2012) - Undefeated middleweight contender Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin and the late World Heavyweight Champion Gene Tunney's son, writer Jay Tunney, will be special guest speakers at Ring 8's next monthly meeting this coming  Tuesday evening (7:00 PM / ET, June 19), at the historic Waterfront Crabhouse in Long Island City, New York. Quillin (27-0, 20 KOs) recently won an impressive 10-round decision over four-time world champion Ronald "Winky" Wright, which solidified Quillin's reputation as America's No. 1 middleweight as well as one of the top 160-pound boxers in the world. Born in Michigan, Quillin lives in Manhattan, where he also is a boxing instructor at the Trinity Boxing Club.  Sending Wright into retirement helped him crack The Ring Magazine (#10) and ESPN (#9) rankings for the first time.  The talented Cuban-American is rated No. 5 by the World Boxing Association ("WBA"), No. 8 by the World Boxing Organization ("WBO") and No. 12 by the World Boxing Council ("WBC"). In 1928, Gene "The Fighting Marine" Tunney retired from boxing as the first undefeated world heavyweight champion in modern times, as well as one of the most famous athletes of that era, largely due to his two victories over Jack Dempsey. Tunney retired with a 65-5-1 (48 KOs) pro record with his only loss coming as a light heavyweight to another great, Harry Greb. In retirement, Tunney befriended writers and scholars including Ernest Hemingway, Thornton Wilder and George Bernard Shaw.  Tunney's son, Jay, documented his father's friendship with Shaw, writing the acclaimed book, The Prizefighter And The Playwright. "We're excited to have two guest speakers from such diverse backgrounds," Ring 8 president Bob Duffy said.  "Quillin's father left Cuba 32 years ago to find freedom in America. Peter has gone from sleeping on floors into one of the best middleweights in the world and a future world champion.  Jay is the son of a famous boxer who is a literary giant with extensive knowledge of boxing.  I got to know him at the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame induction dinner when he accepted on behalf of his father going into the inaugural class. Jay will be selling his book and showing exclusive footage from the Tunney-Dempsey fights.  I'm sure that, together, Jay and Peter will give our members a memorable evening."

Formed in 1954 by an ex-prizefighter, Jack Grebelsky, Ring 8 became the eighth subsidiary of what was then known as the National Veteran Boxers Association - hence, RING 8 - and today the organization's motto still remains: Boxers Helping Boxers. RING 8 is fully committed to supporting less fortunate people in the boxing community who may require assistance in terms of paying rent, medical expenses, or whatever justifiable need. Go on line to www.Ring8ny.com for more information about RING 8, the largest group of its kind in the United States with more than 350 members. Annual membership dues is only $25.00 and each member is entitled to a buffet dinner at RING 8 monthly meetings, the third Tuesday of every month, excluding July and August.  All active boxers, amateur and professional, are entitled to a complimentary RING 8 yearly membership.

ANTONIO TARVER AND LATEEF KAYODE FIGHT TO DRAW ON EXCITING QUADRUPLEHEADER ON SHOWTIME®

Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING^® Telecast Will Replay

Tuesday, June 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME^®

Available On Demand from Sunday, June 3, through July 1

        

CARSON, Calif., (June 3, 2012) – The age-old question of who wins out – experience or youth – was only half answered Saturday night on a compelling night of fights on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIPS BOXING.

Former Light Heavyweight World Champion Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver (29-6-1, 20 KO’s), age 43, and unbeaten 29-year-old Lateef Kayode (18-0-1, 14 KO’s) fought to a 12-round draw while 28-year-old Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (27-0, 20 KOs) took out 40-year-old former undisputed 154-pound champion Winky Wright(51-6-1, 25 KOs) by unanimous 10-round decision in the final two of four televised fights from The Home Depot Center.

Austin “No Doubt” Trout” (25-0, 14 KOs) and Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz (20-0-1, 11 KOs) both registered impressive unanimous victories in the first two televised fights.

Kayode, who had graduated from ShoBox to the big stage and was fighting in his first SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING bout, controlled the fight early on leaving Tarver to rally in the latter rounds. Tarver and Kayode each took a 115-113 score from different judges, with the third calling it 114-114.

“From the sixth round on I showed I still had it,” said Tarver, who resides in Tampa, Fla. “I put my punches together and I won down the stretch. We are going to stay busy and take a week off, but then get back in the gym.”

SHOWTIME expert analyst and noted boxing historian Steve Farhood was impressed with Kayode and his technical style. “It was a close fight and Antonio clearly controlled the second half of the bout but gave away a lot of the early rounds,” Farhood said after the fight. ”Kayode fought better technically than he has in a lot of his ShoBoxfights.”

“Everyone knows I won this fight,” said Kayode, of Hollywood, Calif., by way of Nigeria. “I’m better than him.”

In a middleweight featured attraction, Quillin took out Wright by unanimous 10-round decision, 98-91 twice and 97-92.

Quillin, from New York City, just proved too quick and elusive for Wright, of St. Petersburg, Fla., who was fighting for the first time in three years and two months. Wright was knocked down by an impressive and powerful right hand to the head in the fifth round.

“I prepared for a 21-year-old Winky Wright and at times he fought like that,” Quillin said. “You can see from my face that I didn’t take a lot of punishment tonight.”

Said Hall of Fame analyst Al Bernstein during the telecast, “I agree with Steve Farhood - Wright might have been better off taking an easier tune-up fight in his comeback before taking on Kid Chocolate.”

Trout, from Las Cruces, N.M., successfully defended his 154-pound WBA world title with a unanimous decision victory over Delvin Rodriguez of Danbury, Conn., (26-6-3, 14 KOs). The judges scored the fight 117-111, 118-110, 120-108 with Trout outworking Rodriguez and landing 22 percent of his 699 punches in the 12-round battle. 

“I did what I had to do to get the win," Trout, 27, told SHOWTIME reporter Jim Gray after the fight.

In the opening bout of the telecast, bantamweight Santa Cruz captured the vacant IBF belt with a unanimous 12-round decision over the IBF No. 1 contender Vusi Malinga (20-4, 12 KO’s), of Johannesburg, South Africa. The 23-year-old Mexican-born Santa Cruz, of Lincoln Heights, Calif., dominated the fight and won by scores of 120-108 twice and 119-109 while throwing an amazingly high 1,350 punches on the night.

Boxers Victor Ortiz, Canelo Alvarez, Sugar Shane Mosley, Abner Mares, Devon Alexander and more took in the rare four-fight telecast ringside.  Other notables spotted in the crowd on the night were Los Angeles Lakers starMetta World Peace and rapper 50 Cent. 

***

In an exciting bout aired live on SHOWTIME EXTREME between top super middleweights, Sakio Bika (30-5-2, 20 KOs), of Sydney, Australia, stopped Dyah Davis (21-3-1, 9 KOs), from Coconut Creek, Fla., in the final round (at 1:40) of a scheduled 10-round fight.

In another undercard bout featuring a ShoBox alum, unbeaten lightweight contender Sharif “The Lion” Bogere(23-0, 15 KOs) from Las Vegas by way of Uganda, registered a technical knock out over Manuel Leyva (21-6, 12 KOs) from nearby Downey, Calif., in the second round (0:38) of a scheduled 10-round bout.

The night of fights will air on replay on SHOWTIME EXTREME Tuesday, June 5, at 10 p.m. ET / PT and will be available On Demand from Sunday, June 3 through July 1.

Gus Johnson called the action on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING with Al Bernstein serving as expert analysts. Barry Tompkins and Steve Farhood announced the fights on SHOWTIME EXTREME. Jim Grayserved as ringside reporter. David Dinkins Jr. was the Executive Producer with Ray Smaltz producing and Bob Dunphy directing.

Four Warned Final Press Conference Quotes

CARSON, Calif. (May 31, 2012) – All eight fighters participating in Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING “Four Warned” event and the SHOWTIME EXTREME fighters participated in a final press conference on Thursday, just two days before the highly anticipated June 2 Quadrupleheader which will be telecast live onSHOWTIME^® (9:00 p.m. ET/PT) from The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

“Four Warned,” a rare four-fight SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast, features former Light Heavyweight World Champion Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver (29-6, 20 KO’s) facing unbeatenLateef Kayode (18-0, 14 KO’s) in a 12-round cruiserweight fight, former undisputed junior middleweight kingpin Winky Wright (51-5-1, 25 KO’s) returning to the ring to meet undefeated Peter Quillin (26-0, 20 KO’s) in a middleweight bout, Austin Trout (24-0, 14 KO’s) risking his perfect record and WBA Super Welterweight belt against Delvin Rodriguez (26-5-3, 14 KO’s) and IBF number one rated bantamweight contender Vusi Malinga (20-3, 12 KO’s) facing IBF number five rated bantamweight contender Leo Santa Cruz (19-0-1, 11 KO’s) for the vacant IBF bantamweight title.  All four bouts are set for Saturday, June 2, airing live on SHOWTIME (9:00 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.  “Four Warned” is presented by A.T. Entertainment, Golden Boy Promotions and Gary Shaw Productions with Trout vs. Rodriguez being presented in association with Greg Cohen Promotions and Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and Malinga vs. Santa Cruz being presented in association with Branco Sports Productions.  The event is sponsored by Corona and AT&T.

Headlining the SHOWTIME EXTREME preliminary fight telecast will be a 10-round battle for the NABF and vacant WBO Inter-Continental Super Middleweight titles between talented up-and-comer Dyah Davis (21-2-1, 9 KO’s) and perennial contender Sakio Bika (29-5-2, 20 KO’s), beginning live at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.  Also featured on the SHOWTIME EXTREMEM telecast (time permitting) will be highlights from the showdown between unbeaten lightweight rising star Sharif “The Lion” Bogere (22-0, 14 KO’s) and crafty southpaw Manuel Leyva (21-5, 12 KO’s). 

Tickets for “Four Warned” are available for as low as $25, with VIP floor seats priced at $200.  Other tickets in the 8,000-seat outdoor stadium at The Home Depot Center are available at $50 and $100.  Fans can purchase tickets at AXS.com or by phone at 1-888-9-AXS-TIX (1-888-929-7849), as well as The Home Depot Center Box Office (open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PT).  VIP Suites are available for purchase by calling 1-877-604-8777.  For more information on group discounts or VIP packages, please call 1-877-234-8425.

Here’s what the fighters had to say on Thursday:

TARVER:

“Sometimes when you sign for a fight you never know how it will turn out, but this event took a life of its own.  It wasn’t until the kickoff (press conference) when I realized what I was really in for.  Everything had to take a back seat to my training.  The passion and love for the sport still lives inside.

“Age is nothing but a number.  I know this is the fight that will bring the best out of me because I know he will press hard all night long looking for that lightning in the bottle that I know won’t come.  You’ll see on Saturday.” 

“They (SHOWTIME) wanted to mic me up for the bout [to commentate and fight simultaneously], but I know I have my hands full with Lateef. 

“I guess Lateef took offense to how I critiqued his fighting – he was used to the compliments.  It’s different to look in the mirror and say I need to do this and that.  We need training camp to become better, well-rounded fighters.  I was trying to help him and he thought I was disrespectful.

“It’s going to be an interesting fight.  Trust me, I’m in good shape.  I haven’t taken him lightly.  I know he has potential, I know he has the power to end the fight in one punch and that’s why I went back and trained hard for this.”

KAYODE:

“I’m ready for this fight.  This is the happiest I’ve ever been.  I stay in the gym, I work hard and I listen to my trainer. 

“I’ve never fought anyone like this.  For me to fight this man I’ll need to dig deep into my soul. 

“I will knock you down.  I’m sorry to say this to my brother, but on June 2, you will have to go down.

“He said I was too aggressive when I was fighting, but I’m going to show him aggressive on Saturday.”

WRIGHT:

“I’m so excited to be back in the ring – it’s been three years.  Boxing got real boring for me and and no one wanted to fight me. 

“Now that I’m back, I needed a great challenge.  I’m coming back because I want to be champion.  Peter is a great fighter, he’s coming to fight and I’m coming to fight.  You’re going to see on Saturday.  I wouldn’t come back if I wasn’t ready.  I’m back to be the champ. 

“To be the best, you got to fight the best, and Peter is a step in that direction.”

QUILLIN:

“I know this is a tough fight and a great opportunity for me.  I trained harder than ever for my time in the spotlight. 

“There are a bunch of inspiring stories on this card and I’m glad to be part of it. 

“Hard work means easy work.  I believe that I’m a future superstar of this sport.

“My dad came here 32 years ago on Saturday to this country for opportunity and now I’m fighting here for opportunity.  I came from the floor to the big stage.”

TROUT:

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to fight alongside these guys.  All excitement aside, I have my eye on the prize.  I’m ready to make a statement. 

“I want to be the pound-for-pound champ and I feel like Delvin is the gatekeeper to bigger and better things.  I’m excited to get in there and put my stamp on the game.  Win or lose, I’m going to give it all.”

RODRIGUEZ:

“This fight speaks for itself.  The fans know it’s going to be exciting. 

“Austin must be doing something right to be in the position he is now as an undefeated fighter, so we have a lot of respect for him. 

“I’ve been training hard for this opportunity and this shot at the world title.  I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs so to get this opportunity is a blessing.  We trained for seven weeks and now the fight is finally here.  It’s going to be a great night of boxing.”

MALINGA:

“I’m happy to stand next to these legends.  I’m prepared and have been training very hard.  I’m hoping to take the title to Africa and on Saturday.  I’m going to win.”

SANTA CRUZ:

“This is my first time fighting for a title.  This is what I’ve been training for.  I know Malinga will come ready because he wants the title, but Mexicans are warriors, too.

“I trained harder than ever because I want this title and I want it to stay in California.  I can’t wait to get in there and win it.”

DAVIS:

“There’s a lot of history here and I’m happy to be part of it.  I’m ready and it’s my time to shine.  I’ll let my fists do the talking.”

BIKA:

“I’ve trained very hard and I’m happy to be on the undercard of these legends.  I’ll bring my best Saturday because I know everyone will be watching.”

BOGERE:

“We’re coming to fight.  I’m the lion.  I’m happy to be put on with these legends of boxing.  This is like a dream come true and I can’t wait for my time to shine.”