By Ian S Palmer
The Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) television series continues on Saturday, September 12th at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut where American Peter Quillin will be taking on Michael Zerafa of Australia in a 10-round bout. This card will be broadcast on Saturday afternoon by NBC. Some fans may be disappointed in the fact Quillin isn’t facing a top-name opponent this time out after fighting to a draw against Ireland’s Andy Lee back in April. Quillin is a former WBO Middleweight Champion, but this bout is being fought at a catch weight of 163 lbs. The fight will be Zerafa’s first on American soil.
The 32-year-old Quillin of Brooklyn, New York enters the ring with a near-perfect record of 31-0-1 and has 22 Kos to his name. The 23-year-old Zerafa of will climb into the ring with a decent mark of 17-1 along with 9 Kos. He’s fought 102 rounds since turning pro back in 2011, but just four of those contests were 10 rounders. Quillin has 160 rounds under his belt since 2005 and obviously has quite an edge when it comes to experience. Still Quillin can’t afford to take his opponent lightly.
Quillin’s a hard puncher and carries around a knockout ratio of 69 per cent while Zerafa’s is 50 per cent. Quillin stands 5-feet-11-inches tall and has a reach of 71.5 inches. Unfortunately, nobody has bothered to measure Zerafa and his height and reach are unlisted. Quillin is bigger though and it appears the only advantage Zerafa has is his youth, But he’s inexperienced and not in the same class as Quillin. Zerafa’s been beaten just once though and that defeat came via a unanimous decision at the hands of Arif Magomedov back in October of last year.
Quillin didn’t impress anybody in his fight against Lee as he came in over the agreed-upon weight and wasn’t able to handle the hard-hitting Lee by out boxing him. Quillin started the fight in fine form, but ran out of gas as it wore on. At least he should make weight this time around and that’s why the fight’s being held at the catch weight. Zerafa’s last fight saw him stop Yodmongkol Singmanasak in the fourth round down in Australia. However, Singmanasak had a 12-14 record. Zerafa may have average power, but his list of opponents so far has been filled with Grade B and C boxers
Prediction
This is a huge step up in class for Zerafa and he’s either going to sink or swim. If Quillin’s at his best then Zerafa will be sinking on Saturday. Quillin was down against Lee, but unless Zerafa can land the perfect punch the Australian is likely to lose his second fight and first by KO. He might have the heart to go a few rounds, but Quillin should eventually stop him a few rounds before the final bell.
