The five month stretch between October 2008 and March of this year was a terribly frustrating and humbling one for former Heavyweight champion Samuel Peter.
On October 11th, 2008 Peter attempted to defend his WBC championship against comebacking Vitali Klitschko but the ending result was pretty dreadful. Looking flat footed and slow, Peter had no answer for Klitschko’s two fisted attack and fell behind on the scorecards early. The Nigerian caught flush punches all night long and never got in the position to make his vaunted power anywhere near a factor. He would retire on his stool after eight excruciating rounds.
A little over five months later Peter attempted to get things back on track when he stepped in to face very talented Eddie Chambers at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California. The style matchup again was a serious issue for Peter as he had trouble coping with Chambers’ whistling speed and elusive movement. Peter never was able to get into a rhythm and dropped a majority decision to his younger foe. It marked the first time in Peter’s career that he had suffered back to back defeats and serious questions about his career soon followed.
While having no answer for either Klitschko or Chambers, Peter would return against a soft touch in the form of Marcus McGee in July, scoring a third round knockout and securing his first win in sixteen months time. Peter would follow that up with a 2nd round TKO over Ronald Bellamy two months later and just recently halted journeyman Gabe Brown after four heats on December 19th on the Kelly Pavlik-Miguel Espino undercard in Youngstown, Ohio.
While he may not have returned in grand fashion, Peter is definitely back and out to prove his doubters wrong. When reflecting on the fight with Brown the former champion concedes that he wasn’t at his best.
“It was a good fight but I am looking forward to stepping up. I think I maybe made the guy look a little better than he really was.”
When asked specifically about the Klitschko and Chambers contests and what went wrong, Peter offers no excuses. Instead of blaming his defeats on something that transpired in our outside of the ring the mild-mannered power puncher is simply eager to move on and right his wrongs.
“A loss is a loss and a win is a win,” Peter pointed out. “I am coming back stronger now because I have learned from my mistakes. Whatever I was doing during the fights wasn’t right and you could tell I was in a rut. Right now everything is going really well. Very soon I will meet them again.”
If he were to retire today Samuel Peter could rest his head knowing that he had accomplished a great deal in his career. While a 33-3 record and a taste of championship glory would be more than enough to make others content, Samuel Peter isn’t satisfied.
“I have a desire to accomplish more. Once is not enough and I am going back for number two. Very soon I will grab the title again.”
The attention was then turned to everyone’s favorite topic, the on again, off again March 13th clash between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Keeping his answers short and to the point, Peter can’t quite pick a winner as of yet.
“Both of them are pound for pound great boxers and I feel that only the best man can win.”
I asked Peter if he was surprised that Pacquiao was able to rise in weight and produce dominant victories against the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and Miguel Cotto. Always a man of faith, Peter pointed that any determined athlete is possible of extraordinary feats.
“No I’m surprised because that was what he set out to achieve. He wanted to achieve it and he did just that.”
A Las Vegas resident for over eight years, Peter himself knows the Mayweather family up close and personal. He’s seen first hand how Floyd conducts himself and admires his work ethic.
“He’s a great fighter and he trains hard. I’ve met him before and I’ve seen him training. Both of them will work hard for this fight.”
Peter also noted that there isn’t any other ideal location for the place to happen other than Las Vegas. As of now the fight is still up in the air amidst the fiasco caused by the recent Olympic style drug testing situation, but Peter believe deep down that we will still be seeing Manny and Floyd face off on March 13th.
“All I know is that the best man will win and I believe the fight will happen. It is destiny.”
