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The long awaited Samuel Peter – Wladimir Klitschko heavyweight showdown will finally come to fruition on Saturday as HBO televises from Atlantic City’s historic Boardwalk Hall with WBO Light Welter Champion Miguel Cotto’s title defense against Ricardo Torres as the main co-feature. For the favored Peter, it’s an opportunity to matriculate from hot prospect status and blossom into a true contender. The younger Klitschko brother can complete his return from not one but two falls from grace with a victory on Saturday but the stakes are particularly high for the Ukrainian as a loss could put his career into an unrecoverable dive.
The match is an official eliminator for the number one challenger positions of two separate sanctioning bodies and the victor would face either the winner of the October 1st Chris Byrd – DaVarryl Williamson IBF title contest or the September 28th WBO title bout between beltholder Lamon Brewster and Luan Krasniqi.
The difference in this contest will come down to which fighter can establish control of the manner in which the action will unfold. For Peter, 24-0 (21), the less structured the better as the shorter man will need to get in close and a rough, chaotic affair will allow that access. If the “Nigerian Nightmare” permits Klitschko time and space, the former WBO titlist has the tools to pick Peter apart and capitalize on the unbeaten prospect’s relative lack of refined skill.
Klitschko, 44-3 (40), will need to keep Peter at the end of his long jab where he can set up the lethal combinations that have stopped many quality opponents. The six foot seven inch giant has problems with willful foes who can get past his impressive arsenal however and that will almost certainly be an issue in this bout.
Both Klitschko and Peter possess knockout power in either hand. Peter has yet to prove his ability to take a full blooded power shot from someone who can tap like Wladimir but Klitschko has buckled under the concussive force of both Lamon Brewster and Corrie Sanders, fighters who’s company Samuel Peter will
attempt to join.
