By Dave Lahr: It’s been almost exactly five years since Wladimir Klitschko defeated Samuel Peter by a grueling 12 round decision at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On that fateful night on September 24th, 2005, Wladimir was knocked down three times by the powerful Peter and incredibly fortunate to escape with a 12 round decision win. Luck was on Wladimir’s side in that fight, as the referee allowed him to clinch Peter throughout the night to keep the terrifying Nigerian puncher from landing his crushing blows. The clinching did it’s work and allowed for Wladimir to escape with the win.
Samuel Peter
Klitschko vs. Peter: How long will Wladimir’s legs carry him before Samuel puts him out of his misery?
By Dave Lahr: If you’ve seen the previous fight between the younger Wladimir Klitschko and Samuel Peter five years ago, you’ll notice immediately that Wladimir chose to run for 12 rounds rather than risking fate by attempting to trade shots with the more powerful Peter. And even though Wladimir ran like a jackrabbit for 12 rounds, he was still knocked down three separate times by the devastating punches from Peter. Now Wladimir is no longer a young rabbit, and has matured into a slower, more stationary fighter who has to get by with his power and his jab more than previously. On September 11th, Wladimir, with his legs now pretty much gone, will be facing a still lethal Peter in a 12 round bout with Klitschko’s two heavyweight titles, the IBF and WBO, on the line in their fight at the Commerzbank-Arenka, in Frankfurt, Germany.
Klitschko-Peter: Will HBO regret not showing this fight?
By Dave Lahr: Last weekend we saw a fight on HBO that was as boring as anything you can imagine with WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal beating Chad Dawson by an 11 round technical decision. The fight was a dull match up even going into the fight. When I compare that fight with the IBF/WBO heavyweight match-up between champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO’s) and former WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s), it seems like it would be only obvious that the Klitschko-Peter fight would be much more interesting for the average fan than watching Dawson hunt and peck against Pascal.
Klitschko-Peter: Can Wladimir beat Samuel without nonstop clinching?
By Dave Lahr: We saw in the last fight between IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO’s) and Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s) that Wladimir was unwilling to let Peter do much of anything on offense. Wladimir, over and over again, clinched Peter any time the Nigerian fighter would get anywhere close to him. While I think two or three clinches is acceptable per round, Wladimir was going way over that in his strategy to prevent Peter from throwing any of his brutal head shots.
Klitschko vs. Peter: Samuel must beat up Wladimir when he attempts to clinch
By Dave Lahr: It’s no secret that IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO’s) is likely to clinch his opponent Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s) for all he’s worth in their title fight on September 11th, at the Commerzbank-Arena, in Frankfurt, Germany. The 34-year-old Klitschko will be looking to do his utmost to prevent the power-punching Peter from landing his sledgehammer blows and the best way that Wladimir can do that is to clinch early and clinch often to keep Peter’s offense sidelined. Obviously, it’s the judge of the referee to step in and warn, penalize or disqualify Wladimir once his clinching has gone to the extreme levels.
Klitschko-Peter: Will the referee do his job and penalize and/or disqualify Wladimir once he starts clinching?
By Dave Lahr: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO’s) basically clinched his way to victory five years ago against Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s). With Wladimir basically draping himself all over Peter like a huge Siberian Tiger rug, Peter had to deal with almost nonstop clinching. It was impossible for Peter to get any daylight to throw his power shots in the fight. The referee would separate Pete and Wladimir, and then after Wladimir would land a shot, he’s immediately grab Peter in a clinch to prevent him from returning fire. To Peter’s credit, he was still able to knock Wladimir down three times in the fight and probably would have knocked Wladimir out had the referee been able to pull Wladimir off of Peter after the 3rd knockdown in the 11th.
Klitschko-Peter: It’s time for Wladimir to taste the canvas again
By Dave Lahr: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO’s) has been able to go six long years between knockout losses, but I think his string is about to be ended on September 11th against the powerful former WBC heavyweight champion Sam Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s) in their title fight at the Commerzhank-Arena, in Frankfurt, Germany. Peter, 29, showed that he had Klitschko’s number five years ago in their previous fight in 2005, a fight in which Peter knocked Wladimir down three times in the fight even though Wladimir fought much of the fight clinging to Peter to prevent the hard hitting Nigerian warrior from hitting him. Personally, I thought Wladimir should have been penalized repeatedly for his excessive holding because it was beyond the norm and it kept Peter from fighting. When you got a fighter like Wladimir, who was literally diving at Peter for clinches, that tells you that Wladimir was clinching for too much in the fight.
Klitschko vs. Peter: Will Samuel knock Wladimir out this time?
By Dave Lahr: It’s been five years since Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s) last fought IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO’s) back in September 2005. On that occasion, the still very green Peter came incredibly close to knocking Klitschko out in the 11th round after knocking him down for the third time in the fight with a clubbing right hand to the head. Wladimir got up and on shaky legs was able to survive the remainder of the round by clinching and running. Now five years later, Wladimir has dominated his last nine opponents, beating all of them and knocking out all but one. None of them, however, have been big punchers in the class of Peter. Wladimir has proven in the past to be pretty much invincible when facing fighters that don’t have big power, but if you put Wladimir in with a puncher, bad things can happen.
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Samuel Peter to be shown on ESPN on September 11th – News
By Jim Dower: Although HBO declined to show the upcoming September 11th fight title bout between IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO’s) and former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s), ESPN has stepped up to the plate and will be showing the fight live at 5 p.m. ET at the Commerzbank Arena, in Frankfurt, Germany, according to ESPN.
Samuel Peter signs contract for fight against Wladimir Klitschko
By Jason Kim: Former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s) signed a contract on Thursday to step in and fight IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO’s) on September 11th, according to Fight News. Peter, 29, has won his last four bouts against B level fighters to earn the number #2 ranking by the IBF.