No title on line for Andy Lee tonight
Quillin missed the 160lb middleweight limit for the WBO world title fight by 1.4lbs, and was unable the shed the excess weight in two hours after the initial weigh-in.
Lee had weighed in at 159.6lbs.
“What can I say? I didn’t make weight,” said Quillin. “I want to apologise to Andy Lee and to all my supporters and fans. I made every effort to make weight but it just wasn’t meant to be and I have no one else to blame but myself.
“I may not win a title tomorrow but I still have a fight to win and I still plan to put on a good performance. I promise to use this as a learning experience for the future. God bless.”
The bout continues to go ahead tonight in Brooklyn, New York (1.30am Irish time on Sunday) but is now a non-title event.
Limerick man Lee’s first world title defence is now likely to be against England’s Billy Joe Saunders, who waived his right to be mandatory challenger to Lee.
It will come as a disappointment to Lee, who claimed the world title on a poignant night in Las Vegas last December. He dedicated that victory to the widow of his late trainer Emanuel Steward, Marie, who was sitting ringside at the Cosmopolitan’s Chelsea Ballroom.
Marie had made the trip from Detroit to watch her husband’s protege fulfill his lifelong ambition of becoming the champion of the world. And, although she is unlikely to be in attendance tonight when Lee makes the first defence of that WBO middleweight strap against Peter Quillin in New York, the Limerick favourite will not be the only man flying the flag for the legendary Kronk Gym.
Steward’s nephew Javan ‘Sugar’ Hill, will also be at the Barclays Center, as one of his charges, Aaron Pryor Jnr, is in action on the undercard. Lee and Hill became great friends during the 30-year-old’s time in Detroit and his former housemate’s presence will add another strand of emotion to the occasion.
“I doubt Marie will be there this time as it was just a very special occasion in December and she saw me win,” he explained. “But Sugar Hill, Emanuel’s nephew, will be there. He’s training Pryor who is also fighting so it will be good to link up again. He trains [WBC light-heavyweight champion] Adonis Stevenson now so he is doing great too.
“Sugar Hill, he was my best friend and we lived together with Emanuel back in those days. We’ve been in touch for a couple of weeks and I’m looking forward to seeing him. He was Emanuel’s second trainer, a great friend of mine and I owed a lot of what I learned at the Kronk to him. Hopefully I make him proud.”
Back in Vegas 118 days ago, fans from Detroit and New York could be heard supporting Lee as he upset the odds and stopped much-fancied Matt Korobov with a brutal sixth-round flurry. In theory, it will be a different story tonight as London-born Lee is facing naturalised New Yorker Quillin in Brooklyn.
But Lee said: “He will have a number of fans there but I don’t know if he’s a big ticket seller. Obviously there will be a great Irish support and of course five Irish fans are worth more than 20 Americans through the noise they make.
“However many there are there, I will see them and appreciate them and it will make for a good atmosphere for the fight which is always good.”
Despite tonight’s fight now being a non-title event, Lee has the chance to make an indelible mark on the middleweight division starting in New York tonight, as the fight will be screened live Stateside.
Lee boasts a proud record of 34-2 with 24 KOs while Quillin is unbeaten in 32 with 22 KOs.
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