Tony Ubani
11 October 2008
OUT there in Berlin, Germany, Nigeria's flag would flutter gloriously today as WBC Heavyweight Champion Samuel Okon Peter a.k.a Nigerian Nightmare battles Vitali Klitschko in one of the most interesting heavyweight championship fights in years.
Both fighters stake claim to the belt. Peter won it with a victory over Jameel McCline in September of 2007 and defended it against Oleg Maskaev earlier this year, while Klitschko retired in 2005 after withdrawing from a fight due to a series of injuries.
And coming back to face Peter, arguably the hardest puncher in boxing and a one-man wrecking machine with explosive power in each fist, puts the Ukrainian at a disadvantage. No boxer has stayed out that long and come back from inactivity without one warm up match to accomplish what Klitschko is aiming at.
If Vitali Klitschko succeeds in beating Peter, he and younger brother Wladimir would have shot themselves into reckoning in boxing history as two siblings to hold all boxing titles. Wladimir holds the IBF/WBO titles and remains the only boxer to have dented Samuel Peter's sparkling record.
"I will be the one who will shatter the record of the Klitschko brothers.
I will beat Vitali before I vent my spleen on his brother who took away my victory in our first match," the smoking Nigerian Nightmare said in reaction to the record-seeking Klitsckos. "I am going to put him away to join all titles with my brother Wladimir. I have a longer reach and I am better experienced," the taller Ukrainian blurted.
Although Peter isn't infallible, and is not a skillful boxer, his power makes him one of the best in the division, if not the best. He's matured a lot since being defeated by Wladimir Klitschko in a 12-round decision loss in 2005, and has worked on his glaring weaknesses- his stamina, defense and lack of a jab.
He now has much better defense, an extraordinary jab and a lot better stamina than he did several years ago. If you want proof of that, you only need to take a look at his recent fight with Jameel McCline in which Peter was knocked down several times in the early rounds, yet came back to defeat McCline by a decision.
Peter's stamina is probably going to be the x-factor in his fight with Vitali, because most boxing experts feel that Klitschko will look good for a minimum of four to six rounds, and then quickly begin to fade badly. You can expect to see Peter rally at that point, and take the fight to the tired-looking Ukrainian fighter, and possibly stop him by the 9th or 10th.
In terms of skills, this fight is a no-contest. Vitali has the much better overall skills. But he's now 37 years old, and has been out of the sport for way too long to compete with a fighter with as much power and determination as Peter has. If this was a fighter with a weaker chin, I could easily see Vitali winning the fight. However, Peter has a chin like granite and won't be fazed by Klitschko's shots.
With an intimidating 301, 23 Kos, Peter gave an insight to his mentality when he refused to be intimidated by the antics of Klitschko in answering to Reporter's questions in German. When he was asked a question in English language, he gave them a bit of what to expect today. Surprise! He spoke in his native tongue, Annang and Ibibio. It turned out to be another babel of tongues and Klitschko and the Journalists bowed to his wisdom. According to one boxing afficionado, "Peter could not be cut by their abracadabra and shocked everybody when he started speaking in tongues.
It's unfortunate that Peter, the WBC champion, is forced to go all the way to Germany to have to fight given the fact that he's the champion. However, he may end up getting the last laugh if he is able to stop the ring rusty 37 year-old Klitschko.
Peter, 28, arguably one of the two best heavyweights on the planet at this time, would have preferred facing Vitali's younger brother, Wladimir Klitschko, the IBF/WBO heavyweight champion and the fighter perceived by many people to be considered as the best heavyweight in the world. However, that's not the main reason that Peter wants to face him, though. He wants to fight him because Wladimir defeated him by a 12-round decision three years ago, and the defeat is the only blemish on what would be a perfect record if not for Wladimir.
Peter did extraordinarily well against Wladimir, knocking him down several times in the fight, and coming close to taking him out. Now three years later, Peter has improved as a fighter, won the WBC title with a sixth round TKO over Russian Oleg Maskaev seven months ago in March, and has picked up more boxing skills with his wins over James Toney and Jameel McCline. Though Peter has faced some negative feedback because he was knocked down several times by McCline, he got up each time and ended up salvaging the fight with a unanimous decision win, so that's taken a lot of the air out of his critics.
Vitali was thought by many boxing fans a long shot to make it into Saturday's bout with Peter, with many people thinking that Vitali would suffer another injury of some sort or another.
There's a real big unknown area about how Vitali, with his brittle knee, back and shoulder, all of which required surgery in the past, will be able to handle the pounding of a 12-round fight with the most physical heavyweight in the division.
Peter will go right after Vitali and make him work hard with his aging and injury prone body. If there's any weakness in it, you can be rest assured that Peter will find it and bring it out for the people to see. Vitali has quit in the past because of an injury, quitting on his stool in the 9th round against Chris Byrd in April 2000, losing his WBO heavyweight title in the process. When a fighter has quit once for an injury, sometimes it's easier to quit the second time around. We may be seeing that happen again today. I'm afraid.
Lennox Lewis, one of the undefeated Heavyweights who brought flair to boxing has stamped his signature that Peter would punish Klitschko. Lewis knows better because in his glorious boxing career, he defeated the Ukrainian. Nigerians cannot wait any longer to salute their illustrious son when he comes out victorious in tonight's battle.
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