By Dave Lahr: On September 11th, IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO’s) and Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s) will be fighting in a long awaited rematch in Germany. If you saw the last bout five years ago between Wladimir Klitschko and Peter, you’ll notice that Wladimir used two techniques to beat Peter in that fight – movement and clinching. The referee allowed Wladimir to get away with some really god awful clinching in every round. I usually lost count after 10 clinches per round.
I can’t stress enough how much of an effect the constant clinching from Wladimir had in keeping Peter under wraps in that fight. Back then, Peter really wasn’t as skilled as he is now at defeating Wladimir’s clinching. To his credit, Peter did land some nice clubbing shots to the side and sometimes to the back of Wladimir’s head while being held by him.
You can’t blame Peter for hitting Wladimir in the back of the head because Wladimir was holding onto Peter and pulling his head down so that he couldn’t see where he was punching at times. Wladimir was also turning his head around when Peter would go to punch. It looked like Wladimir was trying to keep Peter from wanting to punch him.
By turning his back to face Peter, he was basically trying to inhibit Peter from throwing his shots. It didn’t work, because Peter was too clever and went ahead and tagged Wladimir anyway. Peter had problems with Wladimir’s clinching in the first four rounds, but in the 5th, Peter knocked Wladimir to the canvas with a couple of nice sweeping right hands.
The shots were beautiful and although they did land on the back of Wladimirs head, it was his fault because Wladimir was staggering around and turning his head around and presenting the back of his head for Peter to hit. What are you going to do when you’re facing a fighter that’s turning their head around while you’re trying to fight them?
Of course, you’re going to clobber them and take advantage of their mistakes. This is what happened with Wladimir. In the 10th, Peter knocked Wladimir down with a long right hand while chasing him towards the ropes. Wladimir had been hurt moments earlier by a big right hand and was trying to run to the safety of the ropes, but Peter wasn’t to be denied. He chased after Wladimir and landed a scorching right that glanced of the top of Wladimir’s head sending him to the canvas for the third time in the fight.
Wladimir was able to get up and last out the remaining seconds of the round. However, if there was just a little more time left in the round, there’s little question that Wladimir would have been knocked out. He was badly hurt and staggering around like a drunk full of cheap liquor.
In the 11h and 12th, Wladimir continued to run and clinch constantly and was able to escape with the victory. Since the referee let Wladimir clinch without taking any points off, he continued to do this in the last remaining minutes of the fight. However, this time things are going to be different. Wladimir’s tricks aren’t going to work. Running won’t help him and neither will nonstop clinching.
Peter is lighter on his feet now that he’s lost weight, and he’s also become much better at defeating a clinch. As such, when Wladimir tries to grab all over him on September 11th to try and stop him from punching, Peter is going to light him up with some clubbing shots that he won’t soon forget. Those will be the attention getters for Peter.
If Wladimir doesn’t change his tune and reach for a new scheme to use from his bag of tricks, he’s going to get stopped very quickly. I don’t what else Wladimir can though. He can’t fight Peter in a one on one battle because his chin is too brittle. He won’t be able to run for 12 rounds because he’ll tire out. And if Wladimir tries to clinch Peter, he’s going to get clubbed to the curb. I don’t see how Wladimir can win. We’re about to get a new IBF/WBO heavyweight champion on September 11th.
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