By Sam Gregory: Friday night March 27th ESPN2 will be airing a ten round non-title heavyweight bout featuring heavyweight contender Samuel Peter 32-2 with 23 KO’s who will be taking on Eddie Chambers 33-1 with 18 KO’s at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.
According to boxing promoter Dan Goossen, “This is undoubtedly the biggest and most anticipated heavyweight fight that does not have a world title attached to it, but the winner of this bout will once again be earning their right to fight for the prestigious World Heavyweight Championship.”
Sam Peter is returning to the ring after his one-sided 9th round stoppage loss at the hands of heavyweight contender Vitali Klitschko last October at the O2 World Arena in Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany for the WBC heavyweight title.
Eddie Chambers has strung together three consecutive wins on his record since losing a 12 round unanimous decision to Russian heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin in January of 08’ in an IBF heavyweight eliminator.
Promoter Dino Duva said the upcoming heavyweight fight between Samuel Peter and Eddie Chambers is “crucial to both fighters.”
Duva also said in a recent interview online, “Samuel Peter needed to get himself in a tough fight after last year’s crushing one-sided loss to Vitali Klitschko.”
“It’s a big fight. It’s a great heavyweight matchup. Both guys are at a crucial point in their careers where they both have to perform. We didn’t want to put Sam in with an easy fight after Klitschko. He’s beyond that. He needs to step up and fight a world class contender and Eddie Chambers stepped up and is getting in the ring with Sam,” Duva said.
Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter was a member of the Nigerian 2000 Olympic Games team. He is known for his punching power and his relentless aggression in the ring. On the negative side he has a tendency to hit opponents on the back of the head.
Some of Sam Peter’s recent fights include his September 2, 2006 split decision win over James Toney at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Peter’s heavy-handed punching over 12 rounds seemed to impress the judge’s more than Toney’s slick counter-punching. Most at ringside thought Toney did enough to pull out the 12 round decision.
In the January 6, 2007 highly anticipated rematch, Peter won a unanimous decision over James Toney in 12 rounds in front of a soldout crowd at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. This fight was a WBC title eliminator and put Peter in line for a title shot against the current WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev.
In his next fight on October 6, 2007 Peter fought Jameel McCline in a scheduled 12 round interim WBC title fight at Madison Square Garden. McCline dropped Peter at the end of the second round than two more times in round three. According to ringside observers, it was not so much that Peter was able to get to his feet after the knockdowns as it was the fact that McCline just stopped fighting and lost the fight. McCline appeared to blow the biggest opportunity of his career when he didn’t finish Peter off after the knockdowns. McCline dropped Peter three times in this fight.
On March 8, 2008 Samuel Peter stopped Oleg Maskaev in six rounds for the WBC heavyweight title at the Plaza de Toros in Cancun, Mexico.
Eddie Chambers said, “I will beat Samuel Peter, and do it convincingly, to get in position for my well-deserving World title shot. Peter is a big man, and a powerful puncher with both hands, and I give him respect. But come March 27th, he’ll find out about my power and speed. This is a big fight for me and I promise an exciting fight for the fans. It’s major heavyweight boxing.”