Samuel Peter: “I Will Knock Vitali Out, and Then I Will Beat His Brother Wladimir Klitschko”

By Boxing News - 08/27/2008 - Comments

vitali3.jpgBy Jason Kim – Photo by Tom Casino/SHOWTIME – In today’s press conference at the Gallagher’s Steak House, New York, New York, former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) had this to say about current WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter, whom he fights on October 11th at the O2 World Arena, Kreuzberg, in Berlin, Germany: “I feel sorry for Peter that I must fight him…It will probably end between rounds four-six. I have a lot of presents ready for Peter for October 11.”

For his part, Peter, 27, has this to say about the 37 year-old Vitali Klitschko: “I am making one promise today. I will knock Vitali out. Trust me. I will knock out Vitali, and then I will beat his brother (IBF/WBO Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko). There is no doubt about that.”

The fight between the two sluggers, both which combined have knocked out an incredible 84% of their opponents. The 6’7″ 250 lb. Vitali is the more purer knockout artist, having stopped 34 of his 37 opponents inside the distance. However, many of those wins have come against much softer opposition than what Peter has faced in his short seven-year boxing career.

The age factor, combined with the inactivity for Vitali, a fighter who hasn’t thrown a punch in anger in over four long years, may end up being the crucial factor in the fight. At the press conference, one couldn’t help but notice the generous amount of silver sprinkled among Vitali’s once all brown hair. At 37, Vitali is no longer a young fighter, and given his history of injuries and his extended amount of time away from the ring, it will be of interest whether he can still fight hard enough to take Peter out or last the full 12-round distance with him.

Peter makes no bones about the type of fighter he is – a pure slugger that depends on his power rather than finesse to get his wins – and will be putting an extensive amount of pressure on the aging Vitali from the very start of the bout. Vitali has never been much of a runner, which may be a factor that works against him against Peter, because without the ability to move away from Peter, like Vitali’s brother Wladimir did in the process of beating Peter by a narrow 12-round unanimous decision in 2005, Vitali may find himself forced to stand and trade with the more powerful Nigerian fighter.

In what could be another Custer’s last stand, Vitali may find himself pinned down and surrounded by the superior-armed Peter and unable to escape his showers of heavy block-busting shots to the head. Vitali has never been much of a clincher in his prime, but that’s something he’s going to need to learn how to do in a hurry, because he’s not going to be able to have much of a chance of winning unless he can slow down Peter, and keep him from getting his big shots off.

One benefit that Vitali has, however, is his height, which may make it a little more difficult for Peter to land his wide hooks to the back of Vitali’s head. It isn’t that Peter attempts to throw punches to the back of his opponent’s head, mind you, but rather they end up there sometimes because of the way that he throws his wide shots.

Peter’s tendency to throw wide punches may also be an advantage for Vitali, because if he can throw straight shots down the middle, he can catch Peter over and over again while throwing his wider shots and possibly hurt him. Peter doesn’t have much variety of punches; It’s either the wide hooks or nothing, giving a smart fighter like Vitali a whole to aim his punches in when Peter starts winding up for his huge home run swings like he often does.



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