Returning to the ring for the first time in almost four years, Vitali Klitschko beat Samuel Peter today to become the WBC heavyweight champion.
Peter didn't answer the bell for the ninth round after Klitschko battered him in the eighth. Klitschko absolutely dominated the fight; two of the three judges said Klitschko had won all eight rounds and the other judge gave Klitschko seven of eight.
Klitschko's win makes it clear that there are two heavyweights who stand over all the others: Vitali and his younger brother, Wladimir Klitschko, who holds the IBF, IBO and WBO heavyweight belts. The Klitschko brothers have promised their mother they will not fight each other, meaning we will not have a heavyweight title unification fight any time soon.
The Associated Press reports that Vitali Klitschko said this afterward:
"If Samuel Peter didn't stop the fight, I have the feeling in the next two rounds, I would have knocked him out, He got more and more punches, and his chin (was) not so strong as the first rounds. ...Promoter Don King said after the fight that Klitschko could fight Lennox Lewis next.
"I knew if I lost the fight I wouldn't get a second chance. It was a one-way ticket, and I used my chance."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-12-2008 @ 12:08AM
rjpence81 said...
I hope that Don King isn't full of his usual B.S. and that rematch actually happens. I doubt that Lennox at 43 will overturn his decision to quit. Especially since he has maintained he would not come back as recently as a year ago. Unless HBO's not paying him enough, I don't understand why he would want to jump back into what would be a challenging fight (One I don't actually see him winning. At all. Did you see Klitschko? He didn't lose too much in the layoff). I hope Gomez provides a good fight for Klistchko, although personally I'd like to see him match up with Arreola, as I think he matches up better than Peter did stylewise. Gomez will be better than Peter though (his 80" reach will help).
Reply
10-12-2008 @ 1:17AM
JDBreeze1 said...
Hopefully the governing bodies will get tough on the Klitschkos and say: Fight your brother or lose your belts. It's way past time for the titles to be unified.
Reply
10-12-2008 @ 2:48AM
Paul F. Villarreal said...
Lennox Lewis will not be coming out of retirement. King's just bitter that the Klitschkos have ruined his plans, once again. Don's reaching here.
Michael, nice work on the Hopkins-Pavlik conference call the other day. I saw the transcript and it was good to see you in the mix.
If people want to see the entire Peter-Klitshcko fight, go to my YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/PaulFVillarreal
You'll see the round by round videos on the main page.
Vitali is a destroyer. This is what he does. I picked this fight months ago and the outcome was not a surprise in the least. The only question was whether Vitali would get injured during, and especially before, the fight. Once he made it through training camp, Peter was basically toast.
People want to blame Peter here. No. This is who Sam is, and who Vitali is. VK would beat Sam 10/10 times, with little effort. Sam could bull rush Vitali and he would only be stopped in fewer rounds.
Good stuff. Thanks, Michael.
Paul F. Villarreal
Reply
10-12-2008 @ 7:07AM
Malcom said...
Ever since Whites have started dominating the heavy weight division again , the media pays no attention to it.
Reply
10-12-2008 @ 10:31AM
rob said...
I don't think it has anything to do with race. Too many belts and too many 'champions' successfully avoiding fighting each other for years have left most casual fans with no idea who the real champion is, nor do they care seem to care anymore.
10-13-2008 @ 11:19PM
Scott_gp said...
Malcom, I think it has less to do with race than it does with the dearth of good heavyweight fighters these days. The current class of heavyweights (white, black, or whatever) can't hold a candle to their predecessors. The fact that that the underwhelming Klitschko brothers hold such a stranglehold only reinforces this fact.
10-28-2008 @ 7:14AM
adelaja said...
no one can come face to face with klitschko that he will not destroy.not even lenox lewis cos lewis knew he can't have it with him that was why he retired in the first place and i doubt he will come out of retirement to fight him and as for samuel peter klitschko will beat him 10/10 and am from nigeria but i know the truth when i see it cos peter is not a good fighter he just have the strenght to last in the rig and klitschko have that also.
Reply