After his hard fought draw with Andy Lee back in April, in which the champion kept the WBO middleweight title, and he voided his right to win it on the scales, New York’s Peter Quillin (30-0-1, 22ko) returns to the ring in a routine, 10 round, 163 lb catch weight affair against Australian unknown Michael Zerafa (17-1, 9ko) on Saturday night.
Many are finding it hard to get excited about the PBC on NBC clash that for all intents and purposes, and with respect to Zerafa, is set to be a complete and utter mismatch, merely designed to warm Quillin up for a future date with fellow New Yorker and WBA (reg) 160 lb titlist, Daniel Jacobs – a fight that complete upset aside, is mooted for December.
Former WBO champ, Quillin, however, is in no mood to look past the 23 year old Australian, despite the more than obvious gaps in experience and prior pedigree, and is insistent he is not thinking about any Jacobs fight just yet, only the job in hand.
Zerafa, whose sole loss came against Russian prospect Arif Magomedov last October, claims he isn’t upset that he is being brought in to be steam-rolled en-route to Quillin’s Jacobs fight, and says he is happy going in as an underdog, as thus, there is no expectation.
“We have a game plan. We’ve been training super hard for this fight and I can’t wait to get out there and put it all together. We’ve got nothing to lose, everything to gain,” he said.
“I give much respect to Quillin and I appreciate him stepping in the ring with me and it’s an absolute honor being up with there with the best.
As far as any Jacobs fight goes for Quillin, he is not currently worried about making 160 for the clash, again re-iterating Zerafa is the focus, although as the Lee weigh-in, and this fight’s 163 catch-weight attest, he is slowly outgrowing the division.
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