Monday, March 10, 2008

Peter KO's Maskaev in the 6th



This is exactly the type of heavyweight fight that boxing needs. Two heavy handed men, trading haymakers with complete disregard for their own protection. Samuel Peter knocked Oleg Maskaev out in the 6th round to win Maskaev's portion of the heavyweight title (the reamining belonging to Wladimir Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev). From the very start of the fight the two boxers traded heavy shots in the center of the ring with Peter frequently getting the better of Maskaev. Both men were hurt by the other at some point of the fight; however, Peter showed just enough chin to withstand Maskaev's barrage and was able to get the victory by using a combination of shots to force Maskaev into the ropes, and the ref to stop the fight.


So what's next for the "Nigerian Nightmare"? After the fight Peter said that he was ready to fight Wladimir Klitschko "tonight"; however, before he gets the chance to unify the heavyweight titles he will have to fight Wladimir's older brother and former heavyweight champion, Vitali Klitschko. Vitali retired from boxing a few years ago because of constant injuries and because he wanted to pursue a political career in his home country of Ukraine. The sanctioning body of the title belt that Peter just won is most likely going to force Peter to fight Vitali, even though Vitali has not fought in 3 1/2 years and does not deserve a title shot his first fight back. As a fan of boxing I can only hope that Peter beats Vitali and then his younger brother Wladimir so that we can finally have one true champion.

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