Daniel Jacobs, Peter Quillin will put friendship aside for one night

ByDAN RAFAEL
December 4, 2015, 1:37 PM

— -- Middleweight titleholder Daniel Jacobs and former titlist "Kid Chocolate" Peter Quillin, who have been Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood buddies for years, have put their friendship on hold for the sake of business.

Why? Because they are about to both get paid a lot of money -- $1.5 million apiece -- to inflict pain on the other.

"Danny and I are very cordial, but when I step into that ring I want to bring harm to him and he wants to do the same to me," Quillin said at Thursday's final news conference. "So I don't know if you can consider us friends (at the moment) if we want to do that to each other."

Jacobs will make the third defense of his secondary 160-pound world title when he and Quillin square off for the belt -- as well as the all-important borough bragging rights -- in a fight that has been brewing for the past few years. The Saturday night fight at the Barclays Center in their hometown will air on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET with coverage of preliminary bouts on Showtime Extreme beginning at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

"I've known both of these young men since they were kids," promoter Lou DiBella said. "They are terrific men and a true credit to the sport. These guys have always gotten along, they respect each other as fighters, but there is a true belief on both their parts that they are the best.

"Take all the friendship and throw it out the window. This is going to be nasty. This is going to be brutal. There will be boxing but these guys will throw bombs. They can't help themselves, that's what makes them so great. The winner of this could be a superstar."

In 2013, Brooklyn welterweights Paulie Malignaggi and Zab Judah, both well-known former world titleholders and pals, also squared off at the Barclays Center in the arena's first big-time borough battle. But Malignaggi, who won a unanimous decision, and Judah were not fighting for a world title and both were past their primes.

Jacobs-Quillin, however, is for much higher stakes -- a title in a red-hot division -- and both are in their primes. Both knew the fight would have to happen eventually.

"All that matters is that we're going to give the fans something that they're looking forward to," Jacobs said. "I thank God our relationship is what it is outside of the ring and it will continue to be that way win, lose or draw. I respect him and I respect his family and there's nothing but love at the end of the day, but what that means right now is nothing because we're fighting for our legacy.

"We're fighting for our pride and just for our career. So that doesn't really even matter at this point. Right now it's about going out there and doing the best that we can do. I have his number. We can contact each other at any given point. There's no hate. There's no love lost. It's nothing whatsoever. We're really cool individuals and it's all respect at the end of the day."

Quillin has also taken the high road going into their fight.

"I totally agree with Danny," Quillin said. "I've been very casual with him outside of the ring. Me and him always bump into each other in New York and there's always love. So this is strictly part of the business that, you know, whether people love it or not you're just going to have to accept it.

"I've got his (phone) number. We're friends. I know a lot about him and he knows a lot about me."

Their bout will not be the first time they will share the ring. About 10 or 12 years ago, they sparred together.