By Eric Thomas: Former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis (41-2, 32 KOs) is picking WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (30-1, 23 KOs) to not only defeat WBC champion emeritus Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs), but also take him out in the process in their October 11th heavyweight championship bout on November 11th at the O2 World Arena, in Berlin, Germany, according to the Vanguard Online Edition. Lewis, 43, should know what he’s talking about, since he himself defeated Vitali Klitschko by a 6th round TKO in June 2003, ripping his face to shreds with right hands and bigger uppercuts and forcing the referee to step in and halt the bout to save the older Klitschko brother from permanent injury to his face and eye region. Reportedly, Lewis has been assisting Peter, 28, with training tips on how to defeat the 37 year-old Vitali, who hasn’t stepped foot into a boxing ring for the past four years retiring at the end of 2004 after sustaining injuries to his knee.
Peter isn’t too enamored with either Vitali or his brother, IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, the latter brother defeating Peter by a narrow 12-round unanimous decision three years ago in August 2005. In the process of losing, however, Peter fought impressively, knocking the younger Klitschko down on three separate occasions in the bout and having him close to a stoppage. In a recent conference call with Vitali, Peter had this to say about both Klitschko brothers:
“They fight like they’re robots. I beat his brother, but give him the fight. That does not matter. They both fight like robots. I’m not a robot. I am skilled fighter and puncher. I do whatever I need to win. I will be ready October 11th. Style-wise, I’m okay. I’ll prove myself again. I’ll prove my skill. It only takes one thing to win this fight and I have it. I’m going to beat him.”
Vitali will be entering the ring with Peter without any tune-up, and with as much time off as Vitali has had in the past few years, it will be a big question mark how well he’ll hold under the strain of battle, particularly with a hard puncher like Peter beating him down round after round.
One can only imagine that Lewis has advised for Peter to go right after Vitali, pressure him hard and often from the start, and quickly where him out with big shots. That’s more or less what Lewis did against Vitali in their bout five years ago, except that Lewis started off slowly and didn’t come on until the final two rounds of the fight when he started bombarding Vitali with uppercuts to the head.
If Peter goes right after Vitali from the start, hitting him with hard hooks and uppercuts at close range and wearing him out quickly. While Vitali looks to be in good shape for a fighter that has been out of the ring three years, he possibly will be in trouble when Peter starts unloading on him with big shots.
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