When unbeaten middleweight contender Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin (26-0, 20 KOs) steps into the ring on June 2 to fight four-time World Light Middleweight Champion Ronald "Winky" Wright (51-5-1, 25 KOs), America's top middleweight will have the added motivation of winning for his father, Pedro.
Quillin-Wright is the 10-round Showtime co-feature at Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
Thirty-two years to the day (June 2), Pedro left his native Cuba en route to Miami on boats with his fellow countrymen in search of freedom. "It was like a scene from 'Scarface' and my father was on the last boat," Peter explained. "He ran off the boat so fast he left his shirt and shoes on the boat. They gave him flip-flops and he thought that they were high-end sandals because he was America."
Quillin explained that his father had served 13 years in prison for illegally selling beef. Pedro was a butcher and there was a strict food allotment in Cuba. He slaughtered cows and illegally sold meat in his neighborhood.
Pedro stayed a few days in Miami before relocating in Wisconsin, finally settling with family members in Chicago, where he worked as a butcher. Peter was born there in 1983.
"Many people gain success by overcoming adversity," Quillin said. "I was never given anything but I've stood on my own and now I'm close to fighting for the World Middleweight Championship. Beating 'Winky' Wright will get me closer to accomplishing my dream. My father and brother, Chedrick, have been with me in Las Angeles during this training camp. They've motivated me. There's nothing more I'd like than to give them a big win against 'Winky' to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of my father's freedom."
Quillin has moved up to No. 5 in the International Boxing Federation ("IBF") World rankings, as well as No, 8 in the laterst World Boxing Organization ("WBO") ratings.
For more information about Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin go online to www.TheKidChocolate.com or follow him on Twitter @KidChocolate.
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Phil D. Jay WBN Editor (picure by boxrec.com) After almost a year and a half without one of boxing’s great journeymen, World Boxing News is looking back at the 161-fight career of Worcestershire warrior Ernie Smith, concentrating on his contribution in the ring, rather than the tragic way his life ended out of it. Smith turned professional at super-featherweight in 1998 at the Park Hall Hotel in Wolverhampton, losing a six rounder against Welshman Woody Greenaway. One month later, Ernie was thrown in with an unknown prospect by the name of Gavin Rees (former world champion and current British Lightweight Champion) who he also took the distance over four rounds. The “Gypsy Boy” then managed to string together a four fight unbeaten run together in early 1999 and ended the year winning five out of his twelve contests, but by this time had already delved into the journeyman pool of boxers with a record of 5-8-1. After settling at the welterweight limit, Ernie gained a su