Samuel Peter -- latest heavyweight boxing disappointment

Samuel Peter, hailed by many as the next 'savior' of the heavyweight (HW) division, fought fringe contender Jameel McCline last night in Madison Square Garden. The contest was for Peter's interim WBC HW title, a championsip he was awarded when WBC titleholder Oleg Maskaev was forced to pull out of his scheduled match with Peter due to injury.

Though Peter retained his interim belt via unanimous decision (115-110, 115-111, 113-112), the victory raised new doubts about the Nigerian fighter.

Peter was dropped once at the end of the second round and twice in the 3rd round by the relatively light-hitting (23 KO's in 49 fights) McCline. McCline, 37 years old and not in excellent condition, tired after his 3rd knockdown of Peter. Had he not, he likely would be the interim WBC Champion today.

Here is footage of the 3 knockdowns:

McCline was a big underdog going into the Peter bout. He took the fight on short notice, and his paucity of preparation time was evident in the challenger's lack of fitness. McCline had lost 4 of his last 11 bouts prior to squaring-off against Peter, including the 3rd-round knockout he suffered during his previous contest, a match with WBA Champion Nikolay Valuev of Russia.

Included among those 4 losses were defeats to contenders Calvin Brock and Chris Byrd, both of whom were emphatically defeated by IBF Champion Wladimir Klitschko. McCline also dropped a decision to unheralded Zuri Lawrence during this stretch. McCline's record, finally, contains a TKO loss to the only man to have defeated Sam Peter, Wladimir Klitschko.

That such an aging, fairly soft-striking opponent could drop Peter 3 times has to be a concern for both Peter and his team. Peter (28-1) has been regarded as a knockout puncher with a granite chin. But in his last 6 fights Peter has recorded but 1 KO, against career journeyman Julius Long. Many boxing experts feel that Peter lost his first bout with veteran James Toney. Though Peter did show signs of improvement in his second fight with Toney, he remains a very raw fighter with a porous defense. It remains to be seen if Peter will be able to significantly upgrade his technique. Though listed as 27 years old, most insiders feel Peter is older than this given age. And given that he does not seem a particularly disciplined fighter in terms of his training and eating, the clock may already be ticking on both Peter's capacity to better his skill level and to remain a viable contender or champion.

A number of Peter's supporters pointed out how odd it was that Peter lost his fight with Wlad Klitschko even though Peter knocked Klitschko down 3 times during that match.

I doubt that this same judging criteria was utilized by that subset of Sam's followers after Peter was the one on the receiving end of three knockdowns last night.

Whatever Sam Peter is, he is not a 'savior' for the HW division. For a pugilist who relies on power and chin resiliency over skill and defensive prowess, last night's victory served notice to fan and fellow heavyweight alike:

Sam Peter can be hurt, and he still has major flaws in his game.

 

About as many people watched/cared about this fight on TV as there were words in the initial post on this thread.

 

Sirs, Madames,

I'm holding out hope for Ike Ibeabuchi.

YHS, etc

 

I would love it if Ike were able to come back to fighting at a high level. He was extremely talented and charismatic, and the sport would be better if he could successfully return.

That said, he hasn't boxed or trained as a boxer for years and years. As bad as Tyson looked when he got out of prison, Ike has been incarcerated for far longer than Iron Mike was.

I've talked with other enthusiasts and boxing writers about this and almost none of them gives Ike any chance of returning to the ring, at least as anything remotely close to what he once was.

Here's hoping he proves the doubters wrong.

 

Mr Ski,

I'm only semi-serious. Part of me believes Ike could roll out of bed and double-dose his meds and weigh 60 pounds over his fighting weight--and still beat Peter. Peter's awful and nobody in the Top Ten has shown anything like Ike's best (the Byrd KO). It's a division not worth watching.

YHS, etc

 

Somebody start force-feeding malts and HGH to Jermain Taylor.

OH WAIT!

 

Samuel Peter? You're about two years late RokSki. I saw him fight one of the Klitschkos in 2005 and he was awful. Peter gets gassed easily and is a dirty fighter who should have been DQ'd in this particular bout for throwing numerous rabbit punches.

 

My co-workers can't stand Klitschko and swear that Peter won his fight with Wlad and Wlad's last three fights against Calvin Brock, Ray Austin and Lamon Brewster were fixed, that there was no legitimate way Klitscko could beat any one of them. They said that Brewster was the best actor they've ever seen.
Now of course, none of those things are true, but how can you prove they're not?

 

Dangerous K:

I have never thought much of Sam Peter, either before, during or after his fight with Wladimir Klitschko. I did think he had a pretty good chin and good power, but both of those notions are starting to seem overrated.

Many boxing fans have been slow to warm to, or respect, the Eastern European fighters. But the four pugilists who now hold the 'major' HW belts (Oleg Makaev {who will have to face Peter within a certain time-frame or else lose his WBC belt for good}, Wladimir Klitschko, Sultan Ibragimov, and Rusian Chagaev) are all Eastern European natives.

Ibragimov is Russian. Chagaev was born in Uzbekistan. Maskaev comes from Kazakhstan (thanks, Borat), was granted US citizenship in 2004, and then was given Russian citizenship in late 2006 by President Putin. Wlad Klitschko is from the Ukraine.

Because of many fans' reluctance to embrace the Eastern European fighters, Samuel Peter was, I believe, elevated to a more exalted status than he deserved based on promotional consideration.

I agree with you, two of the three knockdowns in the Peter-Klitischko fight were directly due to illegal rabbit punches. And the third came shortly after another rabbit punch from Peter.

I still thought Peter had a decent chin, but after this bout with Jameel McCline, even that attribute has to be called into question.

The one thing I will say is that Peter has a great dose of heart and will. That is something he has consistently demonstrated. Many weaker-minded fighters would have stayed down against McCline or even quit against Klitschko, who dominated Peter but for the two knockdowns.

I wanted to give Peter the benefit of the doubt after the Klitschko fight and after the second James Toney fight, when it seemed he had improved.

But after this lackluster affair, it's getting tougher. This was Peter's big chance to win the title from Maskaev, and you would think he would have been in peak condition. Though his stamina was better than McCline's (who took the fight on short notice), he still had considerable girth around the midsection while coming in at 250 lbs.

Peter could win a championship, but I don't think he'll hold one long if he does win one. There are some good young fighters on the way up who will soon be looking towards belts themselves, including the Russian Aleksandr Povetkin and Ukranians Alexander Dimitrenko and Wladmir Virchis. Another potential beltholder is Belarusian Serguei Lyakhovich, who briefly held the WBO title after winning a hotly-contested bout with Lamon Brewster.


Smallpotatoes:

It's a fair point. And as long as there are inept/corrupt judges like the ones who had James Toney losing to Samuel Peter in their first bout or the one who had Jermain Taylor ahead by 5 points before Kelly Pavlik stopped Taylor in the 7th round, there will be questions. I hope that John McCain or someone else can create a national boxing commission or some other entity which could help clean up all phases of the sweet science, or at least its American branch.
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This upcoming weekend Sultan Ibragimov will face Evander Holyfield in Moscow for the rights to Ibragimov's WBO heavyweight title belt:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3030435

I just saw something that ESPN Classic will be running a promotional show for the fight tonight (Monday, 10.8.07) called "Last Stand."

I like Ibragimov and think he has the stuff to be a champion, but I think Holyfield is going to defeat him this Saturday night. I will be rooting for Holyfield.

 

Klitschko should be marketed better in the US. Most people don't care but he is good and
has the potential to be very good. In his prime I don't know if Tyson would beat Klitschko.
Tyson always had difficulty with guys bigger than 6'3" and Klitschko is even bigger.
But if you ask the average fight fan (who nowadays watches more MMA) they would
say Tyson in his prime would crush Klitschko. Maybe Klitschko needs Don King.

 

Great job picking a number out of a hat with that one. Tyson only fought two fighters over 6'3" and lost to both: Lewis and Douglas. The next time you pick a stat out, do some research on it. The reason why taller fighters caused problems for Tyson is that Tyson likes to get inside and use his power. Lewis just jabbed and jabbed to keep Tyson at bay. Once Tyson gets inside though, he gets that uppercut going, and lights out.

 

Rokski - SportsJournalists.com's latest posting disappointment.