Vitali Klitschko

By Chris Williams: A couple of weeks ago it was announced that WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (30-1, 23 KOs) would be fighting “Champion emeritus” Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) in October with the WBC heavyweight title on the line. Up to this point, I’ve heard a lot of people putting the 36 year-old Vitali down, suggesting he would likely re-injure himself training for the fight and that even if he did make it to the fight, Peter would quickly blow him out because of the long extended period of time (four years) that Vitali has been away from the ring.

I personally think there’s going to be a lot of disappointed fans come October when Vitali not only beats Peter, but thrashes him in the same fashion that Vitali did with Kirk Johnson, beating him by an easy 2nd round TKO in their December 2003 WBC title eliminator bout. Johnson was built along the same lines as Peter, around 6’2”, and with a rounded physique. In fact, Johnson, in his prime, had better overall skills than Peter – much better hand speed, work rate, and almost equal in power. Yet, Vitali jumped all over him in the first round of their fight and quickly bludgeoned him into submission, dropping him twice in the second round before the fight was ultimately stopped by the referee by Arthur Mercante Jr. at 2:54 of the second round.

By Aaron Klein: With the recent announcement of former WBC Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) and the current WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (30-1, 23 KOs) to fight in October for the championship, one has to wonder how much Vitali will have left for the bout. If this fight were four years ago, the last time Vitali set foot in the ring, I and probably a lot of other people would assume that Vitali would win with relative ease. After all, his chin was one of the sturdiest in the heavyweight division at the time and he had one of the best right hands in the business. In addition, with Vitali’s size – 6’8” 250 lbs – and his ability to choose whether to box or slug, he was more than a match for perhaps any heavyweight in the division.

In his prime, Vitali rarely lost a round to any of his opponents, even against Lennox Lewis in their June 2003 bout. With the ability to use his long jab, left hook, and his powerful right hand, a prime Vitali would have been more than a match for Peter. Indeed, Peter would have been hard pressed to do much with Vitali at all except for to land an occasional shot or two.

By Scott Gilfoid: After months of negotiations former WBC/WBO heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) have come to an agreement for a bout in October, though no official date has been set as of this time. It will be the first bout for Klitschko, 37, since his defeat of Danny Williams in December 2004. Following that fight, Vitali was injured repeatedly while training for a title defense against his then number #1 challenger Hasim Rahman. After multiple cancellations, involving months of time wasted for both fighters, Vitali finally stepped away from the sport and officially retired from boxing. For whatever reason, Klitschko suddenly announced late last year that he had decided on making a comeback to regain the titles.

Rather than having to work his way back like most fighters, Vitali was given the status of champion emeritus by the WBC, thus immediately thrusting him to the top of the division to take on the champion. Most recently, the dust cleared between the two WBC champions Oleg Maskaev and the interim champion Samuel Peter, with Peter winning the fight by stoppage. This set up another potential Klitschko vs. Peter bout. The first bout, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali’s younger brother, defeated Peter in 2005, in one of the most exciting fights of the year.

Newly crowned WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (30-1, 23 KOs) will be making his first title defense against former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko after the WBC came forward and made Vitali the mandated opponent for Peter. This is unfortunate in that nary a soul want to see Peter take on Vitali Klitschko, mostly because of his extended inactivity which accounts for three years without one bout during that time. The fight that people want to see is Peter vs. Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali’s brother, the current IBF heavyweight champion.