By James Slater: The October 20th “Brooklyn Pride” Show just got even better. The quality, value for money card will be topped by Danny Garcia’s rematch with Mexican legend Erik Morales at 140-pounds, with “Magic Man” Paulie Malignaggi defending his 147-pound belt against former Morales foe Pablo Cesar Cano as the chief support.
Richard Schaefer has now told Ringtv.com that hot middleweight contender Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin will challenge for his first world title on the card – against fellow unbeaten and reigning WBO 160-pound champ Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam of France.
“Peter Quillin, Kid Chocolate, will be the first fight on the Brooklyn card, and he will be fighting for the WBO middleweight championship of the world. So now, it’s going to be a triple-header, world championship card,” The Golden Boy CEO told Ring.
Quillin-N’Jikam is an intriguing match-up, one that will pair together two unbeaten young fighters with a combined 54-0(37) record, with both men sporting 27-0 ledgers.
Quillin, last seen ending the Hall of Fame career of the great Winky Wright, has been looked at as championship material for some time now. A class act with genuine talent, the 29-year-old has not put a foot wrong since turning pro in June of 2005. Some fans/experts believe Quillin, who has 20 KO’s to his name, could go on to become the absolute ruler at middleweight. The Sergio Gabriel Martinez-Julio Cesar Chavez Junior fight will contest the “universally accepted” middleweight title, but a win over the capable N’Jikam would be a big step in the right direction for Quillin.
But the 28-year-old Frenchman who was born in Cameroon will be no pushover, even if it could be argued he is the weakest of the current middleweight title holders. Holding 17 KO’s of his own, the boxer who lives in Saint-Denis has mixed in good company since turning pro in late 2004. Wins over Gennady Martirosyan (KO10), Giovanni Lorenzo (WU12) and, last time out, Max Bursak (WU12) are to be respected. N’Jikam will be a fish out of water come October 20th, though.
The former interim WBA middleweight champ, who won the interim version of the WBO strap with the win over the previously unbeaten Bursak in May, has never fought in America before. Save for one fight in Morocco and a couple of early fights in Luxemburg, N’Jikam has fought exclusively in France. Will the New York crowd and the whole atmosphere get to him?
Both guys have speed and can box, while both Quillin and N’Jikam have reasonable punching power. I can see a chess-match type affair unfolding in Brooklyn, with a distance fight a very likely scenario. Quillin looks a little too good in all areas, and he should be able to bag his first big belt with a clear points win. Then the really big fights will be out there for him in this, a historic and traditional weight division.