By Jake Donovan

Peter Quillin returns to the venue that crowned him a titlist, as the unbeaten middleweight takes on Fernando Guerrero in their 12-round bout Saturday evening at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

The bout serves as the co-feature attraction of a Showtime-televised tripleheader. Headlining the show is a 140 lb. title fight between Danny Garcia and Zab Judah; also airing via split site tape delay is a modified welterweight bout between Amir Khan and Julio Diaz.

The evening marks Quillin’s first fight since winning an alphabet belt in this very venue, scoring six knockdowns in a still surprisingly competitive 12-roiund win over Hassan N’Jam N’Dikam last October. His first defense of the title came dangerously close to ending on the scales, as Quillin (28-0, 20KO) was 1.5 lb. over the middleweight limit during Friday’s weigh-in.

Quillin insisted his body still had more water to shed, proving correct just over an hour later when he returned to the scales to make 160 on the dot, and thus still entering the ring as champion.

Guerrero (25-1, 19KO) contributed to the day’s drama, as the challenger was also slightly over the limit. His efforts to shed weight were less daunting, dropping from 160.4 to 160 in less than an hour to keep alive his first crack at a major belt of any kind.

The sequence marked a rare occasion where both sides of a title fight missed weight (though the 2nd attempt makes it a moot point). The fight itself marks a rare occasion where two Al Haymon clients square off against one other.

Not as rare in 2013 has been the frequency in which upsets have occurred. Will this bout follow that trend or simply play out as the scouting report suggests?

Read on to see how the staff at Boxingscene.com believes the action will go down.

B-SCENE PREDICTIONS – PETER QUILLIN v. FERNANDO GUERRERO

“Peter Quillin by decision”

- Damien Acevedo (Quillin)

“The scariest moment of Quillin’s weekend ended when he returned to the scales shortly after 2:10PM on Friday to officially make weight on the second try. Guerrero is a decent fighter and one of the few genuinely good people in this sport, but is in over his head here. Quillin by stoppage inside of six.”

- Jake Donovan (Quillin)

“Quillin TKO9.  Quillin is shaping into the type of fighter people were excited about when he first came upon the scene.  Now that he is a titlist it is up to him to uphold that and I believe he will against a game but over matched Guerrero. Guerrero will try to control the distance but will get caught doing so and Quillin will finish him off.”

- Ernie Gabion (Quillin)

“Even when I let my imagination go, I'm hard-pressed to find any semi-realistic scenario where this bout ends in a victory for Guerrero.  The only question is does he last 12 rounds or get stopped.  I think he gets stopped.  Quillin KO Guerrero Rd 5.”

- Richard Najdowski (Quillin)

“Quillin is too strong for Guerrero, who was fighting at 154 pounds just last year. Maybe Guerrero boxes early and has some success, but Quillin will close the gap and eventually score a TKO around the 8th or 9th round.”

- Francisco Salazar (Quillin)

“Guerrero SD: My head says Quillin but my gut says Guerrero. I think we see a tactical fight as neither guy opens up too much. I see Quillin pressing the action late in the fight but Guerrero boxes his way to a very close SD.”

- Luis Sandoval (Guerrero)

“Fernando Guerrero likes to hit but he doesn't like to get hit. In addition to this, he is a smaller man, he has a weaker chin and his boxing skills aren't much better than those of Quillin. That's why Guerrero will be broken down by a slightly better fighter and then stopped late but not before winning a couple of rounds earlier and hitting Quillin hard in return.”

- Alexey Sukachev (Quillin)

Totals: Peter Quillin 6, Fernando Guerrero 1 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board, Yahoo Boxing Ratings Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox