Quillin Power Touches Lee, But Judges See A Draw

Andy Lee battled Peter Quillin in a middleweight tangle at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday night, and the Irishman tasted canvas early. Could he collect himself and land a Hail Mary hook?

Quillin had Lee down in the first and third, and Lee returned the favor in round seven, though there were long stretches of posing and searching for the perfect opening. That perfect look didn’t appear and we went to the cards: the judges scored it for Quillin, 113-112 (Lee, by Guido Cavalleri), 113-112 (Quillin, by Eric Marlinski), 113-113 (from Glen Feldman). I saw Quillin the winner, but who am I…And then again what about Feldman scoring round three not a 10-8, but a 10-9, depsite the face Quillin scored a knock?

Lee said after he thought it was a hard fight to score. If he had won the 12th, he would have won the fight, taking it on two of three cards, for the record.

No title was up for grabs, because Quillin couldn’t make 160, and thus Lee, the WBO champ, didn’t have to put his crown up. He also got an extra chunk, $125,000, from Quillin for the overage.

In the first, the lefty Lee went down off a right. A left hook hurt him and he was buckled but saved by the bell at the end of the round. The right was a BOMB. In the second, both were cautious, as they started the first. Lee looked to trade, knowing he needed to not get picked apart. Quillin got Lee stumbly again, however.

In the third, right lead sent Lee down. Blood formed on his left eye. Replay showed the right hand lead got there quick but that Lee’s reflexes aren’t maybe what they used to be. In the fourth, Quillin was again severely patient. Too patient, the crowd told him. Weak round for both, it was. The fifth saw Quillin be busier to start. left hook hurt Lee, and Q flurried.

In the sixth, a cautious Lee wasn’t reacting well to tosses. But he wasn’t putting himself in harm’s way too much. In round seven, Lee was moving better, sliding to his right, away from the Q right. He scored a knockdown, off a clipping right hook. A left lead missed and a right follow did the hurting.

On to round eight…Quillin was still waiting, wanting that perfect look. Neither man was busy enough for the crowd’s liking, but it made more sense for Lee to be cautious. In the ninth, a long left popped on Quillin. He saw it coming but it still connected and he did a mini hitch step. In round ten, a smearing hook landed clean, and then Q got bolder. But he went back to being cautious. Lee wanted to score with the left, not so much the wicked hook. In the 11th, both were not throwing caution to wind.

In the 12th, Quillin didn’t leave himself open by jabbing, he favored lead rights. Lee was off balance in the round, a couple rights bothered him. They traded at the end, one of about three back and forths in kncokdown-laden bout which suffered from a lack of volume.

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