text: In a sport so often dominated by egos, the idiom ‘if he was chocolate, he’d eat himself’ could be used on a weekly basis in boxing. And going by the sobriquet ‘Kid Chocolate’, you might expect Peter Quillin to have an appetite to match his ring alias. Instead, the man who will stand in the opposite corner to Limerick’s Andy Lee next weekend comes across as anything but the egotist. Peter Quillin (left) may be nicknamed 'Kid Chocolate' but he shows none of the expected arrogance . At times, the 31-year-old’s verbal patter buzzes with a modesty and philosophical slant which often betrays the expectations of a hard-hitting middleweight, carrying a 71 per-cent knockout rate in his undefeated record. Only once during the course of an exclusive interview with Sporstmail does Quillin speak with a hint of bite to match the aggression that saw him put Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam on the canvas six times en route to his 2012 world-title win. This comes when he is questioned about the criticism he received after opting to vacate his WBO world championship last year. While Lee is the defending champion next weekend, Quillin, the challenger, is also the former title holder having never lost the belt in the ring. The 31-year-old had been due to defend against undefeated Russian Matt Korobov but turned down a career-best $1.4million pay day when deciding not to fight the mandatory challenger. Lee later stepped in to defeat the Russian (for a much lower purse), leaving Quillin to face accusations of ‘ducking’ his obligations as champion. Only recently did Quillin reveal that he took a sabbatical to deal with the conflicting emotions of welcoming his first child into the world, while seeing his uncle unsuccessfully battle cancer. ‘I learned a lot of patience through that, so I couldn’t care less what people’ s opinions are or what they’re about. Nobody gets paid to care!,’ blasted Quillin about the flak he faced for giving up his belt. ‘It’s about being challenged, you’ll be challenged for all different decisions that you make – [decisions] that I made in my life and I think that applies to anybody else. The American has a 71 per cent knockout ratio, but he is keeping his feet on the ground ahead of the fight . ‘I just worry about myself, keep good thoughts and a positive mind and keep a great mindset for myself and that I’m just focused.’ Quillin’s first son, Joaquin, was born last August, at the same time his close uncle, Eric Munson, battled pancreatic cancer, losing his fight just two months ago. He has been out of the ring for 12 months since his last title defence. Has he been able to shake the ring rust and the emotional baggage? ‘Everything is a challenge in life. I was always in the gym, but I was dealing with mental stuff and I’m glad I overcame those things. ‘Now I’m back to where I need to be at,’ answered Quillin. ‘Testament to that is when I step into the ring with Andy Lee on April 11. I challenge myself to overcome these things. ‘My uncle’s in his casket and gone now so I got a closing period, a one on one with my uncle before he passed. ‘I left him in Grand Rapids (Michigan) on February 2 and he passed three days after. It was like a rough thing, but I had my closing period where I accepted that the fate of God is going to be what it is and I didn’t have no control over that. I just learned some powerful things – that I need to accomplish as much as I can while I’m living so that I don’t have regrets when it’s my time. ‘Now I’m just looking forward and Andy Lee is who’s in front of me right now.’ Moving on seems to be a regular feature of Quillin’s life. Next week’s fight with Lee will take place in the challenger’s adopted home town, but to call Quillin one of ‘Brooklyn’s Own’ is to ignore his path. Born in Chicago, but raised in Grand Rapids, only his ‘Kid Chocolate’ nickname hints at his pedigree. Quillin, who will fight Andy Lee next week, says it will be a big test against the Irish fighter . He was christened with the alias owing to his physical resemblance to the legendary Cuban featherweight champion of the same ring name, but Quillin also has a blood connection to the Caribbean island as his father was born there before defecting to the US. ‘I went there in 2009 and spent two-and-a-half weeks there and it was one of the best times. I got to learn about life and experience, something different other than what I’m used to,’ says Quillin on his pilgrimage to Cuba. ‘Living in the United States all your life, you go out to another country and you assume you know everything until you see other people living a certain way. ‘I had to recheck myself and say I’m not somebody that knows everything … I found out that it’s not really about the money, it’s about your family. ‘My father left Cuba and met my mom in Chicago – my mom’s an African black lady. My mom spoke nothing but English and my dad spoke nothing but Spanish, but my dad learned English from my mom and my mom learned Spanish from my father. ‘My father knew the original Kid Chocolate in Cuba, but he’s no relation. It’s part of my destiny that I was named Kid Chocolate by other people. Quillin has been away from the ring for a while, but is now ready to recapture his title against Lee . ‘I knew I had a big responsibility when it came to taking on the name. It’s a great part of my story to inherit a name like that and fight for the legacy of a fellow Cuban.’ Undefeated in 31 fights with 22 knockouts, Quillin is doing his best to uphold that honour but critics have suggested that he has not always taken on the best opponent available. He has defeated some big names, including an old Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright, while his stoppage wins over tough contenders were impressive and his title win over N’Dam (Lee’s opponent at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games) proved his world-class ability. But Lee is arguably his most testing opponent to date. Quillin is reluctant to compare their respective levels of opposition, however. ‘Andy Lee is just going to be one of those tests for me to go out and challenge [myself]. ‘For me to criticise other people’s performances, that’s not what I came in the game for, I came in the game to be a fighter and worry about fighting. ‘I gave Andy nothing but respect for accomplishing what a lot of people didn’t get to do, which is become a champion so I look at him like a champion and a guy that has never took a loss. ‘You got to realise that Andy is who he is now and Andy today might be different from the Andy that was [around] yesterday or in the future, you never know. ‘We just prepare and train hard to make sure we’re able to learn [about] people right there in that ring and focus on that. ‘You just have to accept sometimes that people try to be great like other people and never become great, but if you’re able to take what you already have and work with those things you become great.’ His words read as a tasty recipe to become a champion.
target: American boxer out to take back his title from Limerick fighter .
  Peter Quillin took time out to deal with personal issues, but is now ready .
  Quillin will return to the ring for the first time in a year against Lee .