Samuel Peter: A Heavyweight in a Lightly Talented Division.
The heavyweight division is the biggest division in size, in punches and in paying out the biggest paychecks. On the other end, it is also one of the most lackluster and confusing divisions out there. Who is the king of the heavyweights? Don King, spare us the financial profiting you seem to receive while pushing this heavyweight tournament of crowning one champion with all three belts. If we allow King to continue this pace, the future three-belt champion is not even born yet, so I will consider taking a nap near ringside; wake me up when he arrives. This is a time when a six-foot-two-inch heavyweight with potent power and the imagination to take over the heavyweight division can do so, and if anyone can make the division wake up, Samuel Peter is the man. Saturday will be the day in which Peter can convince more people on why he should be earning a title shot at one of the three beatable and non-dominating heavyweight champions.
Also, the twenty-four-year-old is trying to match his age with his twenty-fourth win, as he enters the fight with a 23-0, twenty knockouts record. Some people may remember Peter during his 2000 Olympic days and some may remember him earning a knockout over Jeremy Williams in two rounds. He has six second round knockouts in his growing heavyweight professional career. That is not bad and even though I would not dare compare him to the early Mike Tyson knockout years, Peter does deserve a minute or two to explain his cause on achieving one of the major belts.
I don’t think the WBA champion John Ruiz’ has eagerness to fight Peter. Ruiz just received his belt back and some other quality heavyweight’ see Ruiz as their insurance on gaining a major heavyweight title. IBF champion Chris Byrd would serve as a formable challenge for the concrete puncher in Peter, who has not really been tested in deep waters and the pressure that Byrd would place on him, would be essential in making him a better fighter, not just a puncher.
Conjuring up thoughts on the WBC champion Vitali Klitschko in some boxing circles the man considered the best out of the three champions, but he has more issues than any of the other two champions and his potential opponents change bi-weekly. It would surely be a reasonable test for Peter to take on Klitschko, and from there, two answers will surface: Will Klitschko handle the hard punches of Peter and will Peter be able maintain a strong boxer’s mind while fighting the WBC champion? Even Wladimir Klitschko would be a sufficient opponent for Peter, but I doubt Wladimir is in a rush to face heavy blows. In boxing, your latest win can define your future.
Taurus Sykes is not coming to be an easy target or a springboard for Peter this weekend. Sykes is not a puncher who holds tremendous power, but he does hold the training of Yoel Judah and may not plan to knock Peter out. He seems more focused on handing out a boxing lesson instead of a knockout lesson. Peter can use the rounds and increase his appeal; he needs more wins via the scorecard to defeat this knockout habit and to show people he does have boxing skills.
The strange thing about the heavyweight division is the promise of quality heavyweights but at the same time, there is no solid ruler. We miss the sweeping power, literally and physically of Mike Tyson, the warrior in Evander Holyfield and the gentleman behavior of Lennox Lewis. You can debate for hours on who is the top heavyweight and you will still come out of that discussion even more confused than when you started the topic. Lamon Brewster, Chris Byrd, James Toney, Hasim Rahman, the Klitschko brothers, Kirk Johnson, Fres Oquendo and even David Tua all stand in line with their reason on why they are the best heavyweight. With confidence, I am sure Samuel Peter is on the opposite side ready to fight each and every one of them with intentions on knocking them out!
Shaun Rico LaWhorn can be reached at filmmaking_mentality@msn.com
Peter’s fight against Sykes is on Showtime (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on West Coast)