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| Photo credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME |
By Peter Silkov
Daniel Jacobs arrived last night as a serious force in the middleweight division. Although he has held the ‘regular’ version of the WBA world middleweight title for over a year, there was always a question whether Jacobs had real merit as a world class fighter. Quite simply, he had not fought anyone of note at world class level, until last night, when he faced Peter ’Kid Chocolate’ Quillin.
The fight turned out to be short and explosive. Both men started off cautiously, probing with jabs as they each looked for an opening. It wouldn’t be a long wait. A sudden over-hand right rocked Quillin, and Jacobs wasted no time jumping upon his fellow Brooklynite. Jacobs unleashed a vicious two-fisted barrage, which drove Quillin across the ring, and into the ropes. The best Quillin could do is cover up and vainly try and ride out the storm. Those hopes crashed down when Jacobs landed a right hand flush upon Quillin’s temple. Kid Chocolate reacted to the punch as if he had been given an electric shock, jumping up in the air, before staggering across to the other side of the ring with his hands down at his sides. It looked as if he was going to fall, but somehow he didn’t. Instead, Quillin came to rest against the ropes, with his legs still giving a weird hop-like stagger, as referee Harvey Dock looked at him for a tense moment or two, before decisively stepping forward and calling a halt to the fight.
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| Photo: Rich Schultz/Associated Press |
It was all over in less than 90 seconds. The stoppage was controversial for many in the immediate aftermath of the fight, but when looked at for a second or third time, it seems clear that Quillin was in no condition to defend himself, and referee Dock stopped the fight at just the right time.
After a fight with such sudden, yet brief brutality, the post-fight interviews were almost as shocking for the friendship, and sportsmanship of both men.
“I told him I love him. Me and Peter go back to the Golden Glove days. I respect him to death, but I knew this fight would be my night. There are no lucky shots in boxing. Obviously, I caught him with a shot. Once I knew I had him hurt I kept going,” Jacobs said at ringside after the fight.
Quillin was equally magnanimous in defeat, as Jacobs was in victory.
“This is a time you sit with your family and figure out what you have to do. I have a lot of options, maybe a rematch is the best option. I can’t think of a better person to lose to than Danny Jacobs.”
Both fighters have a lot of options now, especially Jacobs, who as a genuinely proven world class fighter, has finally arrived. His next fight looks set to be against the winner of the December 12 showdown between Chris Eubank Jr. and Spike O’Sullivan. Jacobs is also looking at attractive future matches against the likes of Andy Lee, Billy Joe Saunders, and of course, Gennady Golovkin, and not forgetting, Saul Alvarez, unless he decides to restrict himself to fighting ex-light-middleweights at 155-pounds.
After a fight with such sudden, yet brief brutality, the post-fight interviews were almost as shocking for the friendship, and sportsmanship of both men.
“I told him I love him. Me and Peter go back to the Golden Glove days. I respect him to death, but I knew this fight would be my night. There are no lucky shots in boxing. Obviously, I caught him with a shot. Once I knew I had him hurt I kept going,” Jacobs said at ringside after the fight.
Quillin was equally magnanimous in defeat, as Jacobs was in victory.
“This is a time you sit with your family and figure out what you have to do. I have a lot of options, maybe a rematch is the best option. I can’t think of a better person to lose to than Danny Jacobs.”
Both fighters have a lot of options now, especially Jacobs, who as a genuinely proven world class fighter, has finally arrived. His next fight looks set to be against the winner of the December 12 showdown between Chris Eubank Jr. and Spike O’Sullivan. Jacobs is also looking at attractive future matches against the likes of Andy Lee, Billy Joe Saunders, and of course, Gennady Golovkin, and not forgetting, Saul Alvarez, unless he decides to restrict himself to fighting ex-light-middleweights at 155-pounds.
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| Photo: Esther Lin/Showtime |
For Quillin, his first career defeat will be a huge blow, but if ever a fighter has emerged from defeat with a huge increase of respect, then that man is Peter Quillin.
There are many ways to prove you are a champion, sometimes even in defeat, but Saturday was Daniel Jacobs’s night, and the middleweight division suddenly exploded.
Watch the post-fight conference here:
Copyright © 2015 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes towww.theboxingglove.com
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