Quillin Jacobs
Brooklyn natives and friends Daniel Jacobs and Peter Quillin fight on SAturday for Jacobs' WBA middleweight belt. Getty

The friendship between WBA middleweight champion Daniel "The Miracle Man" Jacobs (30-1, 27 KO) and Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin (32-0-1, 23 KO) is put on hold as the two fighters who call Brooklyn home meet for Jacobs’ title at Barclays Center on Saturday night.

Both Jacobs and Quillin are rising stars in arguably boxing’s hottest division, looking to continue climbing a ladder that currently leads to the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin. The fight’s promoter, Lou DiBella, called this a “can’t-miss, pick ‘em fight between two of the best middleweights in the world.” Despite being champion, Jacobs comes into the fight as the underdog (+125) while the challenging Quillin is the favorite (-165).

In his last fight, Quillin knocked out Michael Zerafa with a vicious right hand in the fifth round, resulting in Zerafa being stretchered out of the ring. He would later be OK, but the knockout again served as a display of Quillin’s power and ability to end a fight with one punch. Quillin is a former WBO middleweight champion and retained it three times before relinquishing the belt for refusal to sign a contract for a fight the organization required him to. He then failed to make weight against Andy Lee, meaning Lee’s WBO belt was not at stake in the fight that would later end in a draw.

Jacobs has fought eight times since overcoming bone cancer in 2011. He’s won all eight fights, including his last six by TKO. Jacobs won the vacated WBA middleweight title in Aug. 2014 and has successfully defended it twice. His last time out, Jacobs took care of Sergio Mora in the second round after both fighters were knocked down in the first. Jacobs is a self-described “traditional boxer,” one that uses his speed and agility mixed with punching power to defeat opponents.

“I have a lot of skills over ‘Kid Chocolate.’ My speed is my biggest advantage. We both are power punchers; he’s probably a bigger puncher than I am …The more muscle you have, the more of a power puncher you are, the slower you are. With all that power he has to get to me.”

The undercard of the 160-pound title features another belt on the line as Argentine WBA featherweight title holder Jesus Cuellar (27-1-0, 21 KO) and Jonathan Oquendo (26-4-0, 16 KO) of Puerto Rico. Cuellar has won his past two fights by TKO and has been a title holder since winning the WBA interim featherweight championship in 2013. Oquendo is the underdog but will have a pro-Puerto Rican crowd in his corner on Saturday in Brooklyn.

New York native Chris Algieri (20-2-0, 8 KO) takes on Ecuador’s Erick Bone (16-2-0, 8 KO) in a welterweight bout as the highlight of the Extreme undercard on Showtime. Algieri has lost his last two fights but had a positive showing against Amir Khan in May. Bone performed admirably taking a fight with Shawn Porter on short notice in March, pulling ahead in the bout until being knocked out in the fifth round.

Staten Island native Marcus Browne (12-0, 10 KO) will also take on Mexican native Francisco Sierra (27-9, 24 KO) in a light heavyweight fight. Sierra had to retire from his last fight just two months ago due to multiple cuts from punches. Browne knocked out Gabriel Campillo in the first round of his last fight and has only had to go the distance once in his last six fights.

TV Channel: Showtime

Live Stream: BoxNation

Time: 9 p.m. ET

Boxing