By Aaron Klein: Heavyweight Samuel Peter (30-1, 23 KOs) finally got his title tonight with a controversial 6th round stoppage of Oleg Maskaev (34-6, 26 KOs) to capture the WBC heavyweight title at Cancun, Mexico. Looking really sloppy and wild, Peter, as usual, threw countless rabbit punches in the first five rounds of the bout, but somehow not getting penalized for them by the referee.

The came in the sixth round when Peter let loose with a flurry of wide hooks, some of them landing to the back of Maskaev’s head, wide hooks, some of them landing to the back of Maskaev. The came in the sixth round when Peter let loose with a flurry of shots that hurt Maskaev. However, before Peter could finish him off in proper fashion, the referee stepped in and halted the bout before Peter could properly put the finishing touches on a knockout of the 39 year-old Maskaev.

I can’t say I was surprised at the quick stoppage, because the referee looked poised to stop the bout prematurely in the 3rd round after a minor flurry from Peter. It was a bad stoppage and soured what was already a sloppily fought bout. Both fighters looked excruciatingly slow, especially Peter, who appears to have slowed down dramatically since his defeat at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko in September 2005. Speaking of Klitschko, with this win over Maskaev, Peter may find himself defending his title against former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in the near future.

If that bout ever comes about, it will likely be a big money fight. Klitschko, however, has been away from boxing for three years after sustaining multiple injuries while training for a bout with Hasim Rahman in 2005. At this point, it remains uncertain that Vitali can even make it through training. If he does, though, he would be a formidable opponent for Peter, mostly because of Vitali’s huge 6’8” size, powerful right hand, excellent boxing skills and an above average chin. It’s a fight that Peter would be a huge underdog in, even with Vitali’s rusty status.