Assuming negotiations go well, we could see a match-up soon between former WBC & WBO heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko & newly crowned WBC champion Vitali Klitschko. Vitali Klitschko and Sam Peter both had a right to face the former champion Oleg Maskaev, but Vitali stepped aside for the winner. What do I mean by this?
Vitali was awarded by the WBC the championship emeritus status, which means that upon his return from retirement he would be declared mandatory challenger for the belt. However, Sam Peter fought 2 fights with James Toney (would have been 1 but the 1st fight was too close) to be declared mandatory challenger for the WBC belt himself. This was while Vitali was still retired. So, both technically had good merit for believing they were the ones to be allowed to fight next for the WBC title. But, as I said Vitali stepped aside and Sam Peter fought Oleg Maskaev himself.
The original fight was scheduled late last year, but due to injuries Oleg had to back out of that fight and Jameel Mccline ended up being the replacement to fight Sam Peter that night. McCline did a good job against Sam Peter in the early going knocking down Sam Peter 3 times, but Peter came back and won that fight on decision and fought last Saturday (3/8/08) against Oleg Maskaev and won via 6th round TKO.
Vitali is reported to be in great shape. A lot of people believe Sam Peter has improved including Wladimir Klitschko's trainer Emanuel Steward. I, however, believe he is less dangerous. With Peter's attempt to be more of a "boxer" he has lost that all out aggressiveness he had through his earlier fights and would therefore be less likely to land big, looping, blows, that have more knockout potential due to being more reserved. If you watch the last fight with Oleg, 2 times during the fight when he had Oleg in trouble he did very little boxing and more all out slugging. The last of his slugging ended with the fight being stopped in round 6. Due to his great size and stature I believe this slugging makes a good style for him better than him trying to become more of a boxer. At least I feel that way as long as he stays more reserved when he boxes. If he were to do the same thing but unleash power punches in a traditional way like Wladimir & Vitali does then later on I will change my opinion about that.
So, how do I feel the fight will play out if Vitali Klitschko and Peter Peter fought?
I think the fight would go very, very similar to what happened in the fight between Vitali and Danny Williams. I feel Vitali will keep his distance from Peter. Peter will start off doing his new boxing thing and Vitali will rack up the points through mostly jabs and crosses and these will also take their toll.
In the later rounds, Sam Peter will become frustrated and begin to revert back to his tactics we seen earlier on his career. He might even land a few looping punches to the back of Vitali's head. But, by this time Sam Peter will have had eaten a lot of punches and sooner or later Vitali will either knockdown Sam and the fight will be waived off, or there will be a knockout. What do you think would happen?
Posts
I think your right, but Vitali has such a great chin (proved when Lennox Lewis landed that huge uppercut) that Peter would struggle to stop him.
ReplyDeleteVitali will do exactly what he did to Corrie Sanders (Slugger), just keep his distance and stop him with many punches.
All in all, Sam Peter doesn't have the skill, height, speed, endurance or power to beat Klitschko.
After what McCline did to him, i doubt that he could face up to Vitali's onslought!
I agree. If Vitali is even 50% of what he was before he retired Sam Peter is going to be in big trouble!
ReplyDeleteWhat is the latest on this fight's status? Last I read, Vitali would take the fight, win or lose on the mayoral run, but if he wins he mayor race, I wonder if he'll back out of the fight, as he'll have other duties that will probably take most of his time.
ReplyDeleteLast I read, they said it may be Sept or Oct before the fight comes off. Seemes like an awful lot of delays and cancelations. I think they ought to get this fight signed and sealed as soon as possible. given how many times Vitali has had to withdraw in his recent attempts to fihgt..
You have heard exactly the same things as I've heard. Toward the end of the year (sep.,oct.,nov) the fight is supposed to take place and Vitali is going to take the fight no matter what. Yes I agree, it would make sense to have it sooner, but I think this is as soon as he could get. Keep in mind Don King is one of the promoters of Sam Peter, and he's not going to want to give up his belt if he doesn't have to. The longer the time between Vitali and Sam Peter's matchup the better for him.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Vitali's desire to fight and run for mayor of Kiev, Vitali could be doing this because he knows if he says he dropping out of the fight to pursue the Kiev elections and later changes his mind, then he would have to get himself back into the heavyweight picture and would take him even more time to get back into the ranking. But, I think he's sincere in saying that even if he won the election he would still fight.
Hopefully there won't be any injuries taking him over up until his fight with Peter, because I don't see any way Peter winning against a healthy Vitali Klitschko
I think if Vitali beats Peter, which I think he wil, in my opinion, he will probably realize how much he's missed boxing and the roar of the crowd and such, and will keep on fighting. At least, I hope he continues. I would love to see him fight the Chagaev Valuev winner.
ReplyDeleteYa, I think he is missing boxing. Vitali vs the Chagaev/Valuev winnner would make the ideal matchup, because if he beats Peter(injuries aside he will) that would allow both Klitschko's to hold 2 title belts a piece.
ReplyDelete