"I don't fear nobody, man. Who am I scared of for me not to want to be the best in the world? I been seeing so much negative stuff to where it's exhausting, so I just narrow it down to what's real to me...I want to just be in there by April. I was thinking about March, but the longer time goes by and nobody has called me, I will start making calls to them and figure out what date I can go because comfortably, I can be back in the ring by April. Whatever date can be worked out or whatever fight that will be offered to me, I will see in the next couple of weeks and see who will be a good opponent and of course worthwhile," stated WBO middleweight champion Peter Quillin, who gave us an update on his future plans and much more. Check it out!
PC: You had a great year last year. What are you looking forward to in the future, man?
PQ: I'm looking for great things and going to heights that I never thought I could get to, and just elevate every part of my life. I'm becoming a whole person and I'm just getting ready for whatever boxing needs. If they need a savior to give them some good exciting fights, I'm looking forward to that. In 2014, it's going to be a good year because I set it up to be one in 2013.
PC: A lot of people were bitter with the way the Gabe Rosado fight ended. I'm sure you would have wanted a more clear knockout or decision win. What are your thoughts on the Rosado fight?
PQ: Let me tell you, I look at it different ways. I got 30 fights. I've been undefeated almost 10 years now. Nobody can take that away from me. I haven't touched the canvas. I'm knocking on wood because everybody is eligible for that. Somebody came at the right time with the right punch and anybody can go down. But the whole midst of everything is, they are used to seeing me as a guy that dominates. My last couple of fights against Fernando Guerrero and Winky Wright, I pretty much dominated those fights. They wanted to see the same thing, but boxing tells a story. It's not just guys fighting and putting their hearts into it. Gabe Rosado wanted to be the middleweight champion of the world, you know, and unfortunately he came up short. And regardless of what people say woulda been, shoulda been, the fight happened the way it happened and maybe it poses a lot of doubters, but at the end of the day, a punch caused a cut on his eye. Also, I dropped him in the 2nd round; he didn't drop me. If he made me look uncomfortable, so be it. Going into a fight, you always have to learn someone in the ring and every round, I was trying to figure him out. I wasn't gonna let up. Once I cut him in the 9th round, I wasn't gonna let up. I was coming back in the 10th round and went for the eye.
I'm not letting that stuff that people are saying bother me. A lot of those are his fans and I was surprised to see that he has such a good fan base. I'm not saying I'm surprised in a negative way. I'm saying surprised in the sense that I'm happy that he has a fan base and people that represent him, so he must be doing something right for people to become a fan of his. Hopefully I can keep on building my brand and building who I am as a fighter everyday.
PC: Are you currently in the gym and just waiting on the word or are you enjoying life right now?
PQ: I keep my weight down to 175. I been playing ball and I go in the gym and shadowbox. Right now, I am in Michigan snowed in. I'm with family. Right now, I'm about to go pick up my mother and I'm with my best friend, who runs the boxing program here, which is a free program here in Grand Rapids, Michigan and it allows kids to come here and learn how to box. So my best friend is one of the directors of the program and I come here and show love like I always do; speaking engagements here. I also received an award from the elected officials here in Grand Rapids for the 'Inspiration of the Year." I'm getting another award, "Icon of the Year," so I get a lot of awards here and I like to come back here and show love, but at the end of the day, boxing is my job, so when it comes to me training, I'm always thinking about boxing, I'm always thinking about a fight and things I can do inside of a training camp and thinking about what kind of foods I can put in my body. It's a full-time job for me.
PC: Congrats on the accolades. They are deserved. You always talk about...even when we started this interview, you mentioned accomplishing more than you ever thought you could. You come from hard beginnings and now you are back home receiving awards. When you sit back and look at it, what is all of this like to you?
PQ: Real shit! Excuse my language. I just gotta be raw and uncut like that because I am from the struggle, man. I'm telling you, I can tell you stories of how I grew up and shit that I done saw. It's just a big thing for me to be able to see the changes that I have made towards being a better person, regardless of being a champion and all that. Being a champion and having that responsibility because of what I been through, if I ain't never go through none of these things, dog, and live out these worries, I wouldn't be able to come to the gym and speak to these kids. People may say that I am arrogant and I'm waiting for my humbling day to come across, but I'm humbled every day by the positive stuff I see that you can do for different people. A tear will drop out of my eye if I keep talking about it because it's real stuff for me.
PC: A lot of names starting to pop up as possible opponents for you in the middleweight division. Are you eyeballing anyone in particular?
PQ: Through the glory of God, man, I'm in a situation where things come up the way they do and regardless how they do, I hope that the best things come for me and that I'm able to learn from everything that I get to endure. But it's like, I don't fear nobody, man. Who am I scared of for me not to want to be the best in the world? I been seeing so much negative stuff to where it's exhausting, so I just narrow it down to what's real to me. Nobody knows where I come from. Nobody made me go run that extra mile. Nobody made me do none of these things, so I'm just ready. I'm not trying to let nobody down because the only person I would truly be letting down is myself.
PC: How soon would you like to get back in there?
PQ: I want to just be in there by April. I was thinking about March, but the longer time goes by and nobody has called me, I will start making calls to them and figure out what date I can go because comfortably, I can be back in the ring by April. Whatever date can be worked out or whatever fight that will be offered to me, I will see in the next couple of weeks and see who will be a good opponent and of course worthwhile.
PC: What's a good number for you in terms of fights this year?
PQ: I would like to squeeze 3, man, just because I believe I could do it and I would love to stay busy. Boxing is my job, my past-time, and my everything. Anytime I get to go to the office and get the job done, I'm all for it. I'm just very thankful at the end of the day to get to do a lot of things that I get to do.
PC: Gabe Rosado, your last opponent, will be facing Jermell Charlo this weekend. What are your thoughts on that fight?
PQ: First, let me say I'm a fan of the Charlo Brothers. One of the brothers called me out. I've been hearing about that. But when you're the champion of the world, it comes with the territory. It just makes me feel like I'm in the hot joint because everybody is calling me out and I don't hear nobody calling none of the other champions out. At the end of the day, I didn't get no respect when I called Sergio Martinez out and when I wanted to fight Kelly Pavlik when he was on top of his game, or when I wanted to fight Jermain Taylor. These were dudes that I wanted to fight before people knew I was able to do anything. Like I said man, as long as I keep preparing myself and remember what I'm doing this for, then nobody can fuckin' stop me.
PC: I look forward to seeing you back in that ring. Best of luck to you this year and we'll talk soon. Is there anything else you want to add?
PQ: Make sure y'all know, I haven't reached out to y'all, but I am very gracious to speak to you Percy to let people know how I am doing. I am doing well. If y'all been following me and my wife, we found out she was pregnant, but she lost the baby and it's a rough time for us, but she will get pregnant again. I'm just looking forward to big things as far as being a boxer and looking forward to being a father one day and looking forward to being that best champion that I can be for my fans, man, and my family. And anybody that needs somebody in a sense of inspiration, I'm gonna always fight with all of the pride in my heart to get there.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]