Garcia vs. Peterson/Quillin vs. Lee: Will either underdog upset the PBC apple-cart?

04/10/201504/10/2015 Chris Carlson

The PBC on NBC returns in primetime with a solid doubleheader to whet the appetites of us hardcore fans. The main event between Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson is stylistically matched very well and should keep a channel-surfing mainstream-sports fan occupied. The co-feature matches power with power in the form of Peter Quillin versus Andy Lee with Lee’s middleweight belt at stake. Will either underdog knock-off one of the favorites and give the Premier Boxing Champions the surprise it’s been lacking?

The debut of the PBC on NBC was a smash-hit in the ratings department back on March 7th. Unfortunately the only real entertainment on that night was the second-half of an otherwise one-sided fight between Keith Thurman and Robert Guerrero. This card on Saturday night in Brooklyn, New York, live from the Barclays Center should be a lot more compelling.

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Lee v Quillin: The Wait Is Almost Over

04/09/201504/09/2015 Olly Campbell

As they often do for UK viewers, Boxnation, the channel fronted by veteran promoter Frank Warren will this weekend screen the hotly anticipated bout between “Irish” Andy Lee (34-2, 24ko) and “Kid Chocolate” Peter Quillin (31-0,22ko) that is part of the revolutionary Premier Boxing Champions format Stateside that has been masterminded by the seemingly omnipotent manager/adviser, Al Haymon.

A former owner of the WBO 160lb strap now owned by Lee, Quillin vacated that title rather than face then mandatory challenger, dangerous Russian Matty Korobov, and was heavily criticised at the time for turning down a career best purse. Purse bids for that fight were won by Jay Z’s outfit Roc Nation Sports, and the decision for Quillin to vacate was rumoured to have been ordered by Haymon as Quillins “adviser” based on the fact that Jay Z and Haymon had an existing feud from their previous dealings in the music industry.

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NBCSN presents a new PBC: Corner to Corner tomorrow, Thursday, April 2 at 10 p.m. ET

04/01/201504/01/2015 NBC Sports

NBCSN presents a new PBC: Corner to Corner tomorrow, Thursday, April 2 at 10 p.m. ET. The program is a one-hour show with an inside look at the lives of boxers Danny Garcia, Lamont Peterson, Andy Lee and Peter Quillin, as they prepare for their PBC on NBC debut on Saturday, April 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The PBC: Corner to Corner specials featuring in-depth profiles of the boxers will air on NBCSN leading into each of NBC’s primetime PBC shows.

Highlights from each boxer’s story in this week’s episode include:

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Danny Garcia Vs. Lamont Peterson And Andy Lee Vs. Peter Quillin In Brooklyn Showdowns

02/12/201502/12/2015 NBC Sports

The eagerly awaited showdown between undefeated superstar Danny “Swift” Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs) and Lamont Peterson (33-2-1, 17 KOs) will become a reality as Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC returns to primetime on Saturday, April 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

In the first main event of the evening, middleweight world champion “Irish” Andy Lee (34-2, 24 KOs) takes on the undefeated Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (31-0, 22 KOs) in a 12-round world title fight.

Marv Albert will call the fights in primetime on NBC alongside analyst “Sugar” Ray Leonard, the six-time world champion and 1976 Olympic gold medalist. Al Michaels will host.

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Boxing’s Best of 2014

09/15/201612/31/2014 Michael Montero

In what turned out to be a somewhat lackluster year for the sport, there were some bright spots for boxing fans in 2014. The validation of stars like Sergey Kovalev, Terence Crawford and Nicholas Walters. The rejuvenation of Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao. The continued rise of Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. This writer decided to share some of his favorites from the past twelve months below (check out the videos to see more). Let’s take a look at the pugilistic best of the year that was.

Montero’s “Rising Star”: Nicholas Walters

The “Axe Man” is one boxer who truly lives up to this nickname. He kicked off his year by chopping down former titlist Vic Darchinyan in Macau, then chopped down former pound for pound star Nonito Donaire in Los Angeles. The bilingual bomber can also box, as he showed a top-notch jab in his dismantling of Donaire. Fighting in a loaded featherweight division, the Jamaican native built most of his career in Panama and is fluent in Spanish. A consummate professional with a humble attitude and plenty of charisma, the sky is the limit for Nicholas Walters.

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Andy Lee produces the “feel good” moment during an action packed night of boxing

12/20/201412/15/2014 James Slater

There was plenty going on in the world of boxing over the weekend; what with British star Amir Khan turning in a near perfect display against Devon Alexander, in doing so winning his must-win fight in brilliant style. We also saw Tim Bradley go to war with Diego Chaves over 12 eventful rounds, after which apparent winner Bradley had a badly swollen left side of his face and a controversial draw to show for it.

We also heard, over and over again, Floyd Mayweather Junior calling out Manny Pacquiao – even if the bold and committed words Mayweather bellowed into the Showtime microphone have come at least five years later than they should have done (and there are still many doubters who are yet to be convinced the fight will go ahead, yawn!). And we saw hotshot welterweight and Mayweather wannabe opponent Keith Thurman put on a perfectly commanding yet roundly booed showing against another tough nut in Leonard Bundu. Indeed, it was one interesting, not to mention long, night in Vegas.

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Andy Lee’s Dream Come True by Winning World Title

12/15/201412/14/2014 ESB

Andy Lee from Limerick, Ireland wakes up this morning as the new WBO world middleweight champion following an impressive sixth round stoppage win over Matt Korobov last night in Las Vegas, USA.

Lee started the fight by keeping matters at long range and was patience using his jab and picking his punches. Both boxers utilized their respective technical boxing skills in the early going with not much to split them.

In round six Lee stepped up and unleashed a ferocious right hook which stunned Korobov to his boots, sensing blood Lee moved in and unleashed a barrage of heavy punches forcing referee Kenny Bayless to stop the fight at 1.10 into the round.

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Andy Lee plans on using his experience to defeat Matt Korobov

12/13/201412/10/2014 Kevin Chittenden

Andy Lee (33-2, 23 KOs) has a tough fight on his hands on Saturday night in taking on undefeated #1 WBO Matt Korobov (24-0, 14 KOs) for the vacant WBO 160 pound title at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. This may be the last shot for the 30-year-old Lee, because a loss to Korobov is going to knock him back to square one, and it’s going to take an awfully long time to build his way back up to where he is now.

Even at #4 WBO, you can make an argument that Lee doesn’t deserve that ranking because he hasn’t beaten a decent middleweight since his win over Brian Vera three years ago in 2011. Lee’s wins since then has come against middleweights with marginal talent, and against junior middleweights like John Jackson.

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Bradley-Chaves undercard on 12/13: Andy Lee vs. Matt Korobov & Mauricio Herrera vs. Jose Benavidez Jr.

10/11/2014 Jeff Sorby

Top Rank is packaging the December 13th HBO Tim Bradley (31-1, 12 KOs) vs. Diego Chaves (23-2, 19 KOs) with some really interesting boxing action on the undercard as part of this triple-header card. The word is unbeaten #1 WBO Matt Korobov (24-0, 14 KOs) will be facing #3 WBO Andy Lee (33-2, 23 KOs).

Also, interim WBA World light welterweight champion Mauricio Herrera (21-4, 7 KOs) will be facing unbeaten Top Rank promoted Jose Benavidez Jr. (21-0, 15 KOs). This will be a big step up in class for the 22-year-old Benavidez Jr, because he’s still facing weak opposition at this point in his career.

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Korobov vs. Andy Lee to fight in December, winner to possibly face Billy Joe Saunders

10/05/201410/04/2014 T.Baker

Unbeaten #1 WBO Matt Korobov (24-0, 14 KOs) and #3 WBO Andy Lee (33-2, 23 KOs) will be tangling for the vacant WBO middleweight title in early December in the UK, according to promoter Frank Warren. The fight has been agreed on.

The winner of the Korobov-Lee fight will then possibly face #2 WBO Billy Joe Saunders (20-0, 11 KOs) if Saunders defeats #9 WBO Chris Eubank Jr (17-0, 12 KOs) in their November 29th domestic level match-up at the ExCel Arena, Dockland, in London, United Kingdom.

It’s a tough ask for Saunders to defeat Eubank Jr in order to get to the Korobov-Lee winner, because that’s a really tough test for the 25-year-old Saunders to have to pass for him to face the likes of Korovbov or Lee.

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