Klitschko Punishes Peter, Stops Title Holder in Eight to Regain WBC Belt By Doug Fischer (Oct 12, 2008) Send this page to friend Give us your feedback Vitali Klitschko regained the WBC heavyweight title with a masterfully executed boxing exhibition that punished, perplexed and eventually persuaded Samuel Peter to stay on his stool after the eighth round of their scheduled 12-round championship bout at the O2 World Arena in Berlin Saturday night. In dominating Peter, now 30-2 (23), to a technical stoppage, Klitschko succeeded in a most improbable comeback (the former title holder left the sport to pursue politics in his native Ukraine and had not fought since December of 2004) and fulfilled a childhood dream of sharing world title honors with his younger brother Wladimir, who currently holds the IBF and WBO heavyweight titles. The brothers have vowed never to fight each other, so a complete unification of the four major heavyweight titles will have to wait until one of them, or both of them, retire, but the newly crowned 37-year-old WBC belt-holder can still inject some much-needed excitement into the long stagnant heavyweight division. The skills, savvy, patience and power Klitschko, now 36-2 (35), showed in beating up and absolutely bewildering Peter Saturday night suggests that he could still be the dominant fighter in the division, even if he can never be recognized as the “real” or undisputed champion. If nothing else, Klitschko can accomplish enough to earn himself a place in the boxing hall of fame during his second title reign. If he does, it will be because he continues to exhibit the surprising (for an inactive fighter his size and age) speed, reflexes and agility he did against Peter. In the first round of the bout, which was televised on Showtime in the U.S., Klitschko, who held his left hand by his waist, lured a somewhat cautious Peter into lead left hooks that momentarily stunned and knocked the Las Vegas-based Nigerian off balance. Midway through the opening round Peter’s aggression had been effectively stifled and throughout the following rounds Klitschko controlled his foe by dictating the distance and the pace of the contest. Klitschko held the plodding title holder at bay and in line for powerful right crosses by popping a hard-but-educated jab in Peter’s face, often bringing the left up from his waist and connecting just under Peter’s chin. By the end of the second round, Peter already looked lost and desperate as he trudged behind a pawing jab that seldom found its mark and occasionally lunged forward with wide arcing shots that caught nothing but air. In rounds three through six, “Doctor Iron Fist” continued to perform pugilistic surgery by accurately pounding Peter with a simple jab-and-step-around strategy that set up an assortment of upward-fired lefts and downward-angled rights, as well as an occasional counter one-two combination dropped after Peter would miss with a wild haymaker. To his credit, Peter lasted beyond the point that most heavyweight would have been either repeatedly dropped, completely laid out, or chopped to pieces. In the seventh round, Peter got in a few awkward body shots but he had to pay a terrible price as he jumped into crunching right crosses. In the eighth round, Peter had the look (and the form) of drunken barroom brawler, literally staggering into Klitschko’s punches. At the end of the round, the fighter finally accepted what everyone watching the fight knew from the first round – that he was a beaten man, a soon-to-be former title holder who was out-boxed and out-classed by the better fighter – and he did the right thing by staying on his stool. For Questions or Comments E-Mail Doug Fischer at dougie@maxboxing.com Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums