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Samuel Peter Wins Impressively In Florida
Despite being lost amongst the clamor of the controversial first bout, Samuel Peter and James Toney’s rematch was a highly anticipated affair. In the first contest, both rotund combatants dug deep into the inner depths of their soul and put on display a vivid description of what a good heavyweight fight could be.
This go around was an entirely different story.
Vowing not to let a victory be pilfered from his grasp by the subjective view of the judges, Peter put on a display of thorough domination over the master craftsman that is Toney. Much of the pre-fight hype circulated around Toney’s much publicized dedication to getting in proper shape by bringing in renowned fitness guru Billy Blanks.
While Toney did look to be in much better shape than in his most recent outings, Samuel Peter looked to have had the much better camp as he came into the contest the more notably fit of the contestants.
Peter set the tone early in the first by coming out winging shots at the older Toney. Toney was clearly uncomfortable with the sweltering pace dictated by Peter and tried valiantly to get his jab working. Unfortunately, it was to little avail in the first and Peter clearly hurt the old school slickster with thunderous overhand rights in the stanza.
In round two, Toney was ruled down by a jab although the replay showed that it was more to do with Toney’s unsteady footing than the force of the punch. Nonetheless, it was ruled a legitimate knockdown and Toney has been down for the first time since his 1994 thrashing at the hands of Roy Jones Jr.
It was at that juncture that you began to get the impression that Peter would not be denied in this contest. Credit is due to Toney, who despite being thoroughly outworked by the younger man, never gave the impression that he could lose.
In fact, Toney had some moments in the third where he landed hard crisp rights to the chin of the imposing Nigerian. It was clear that Peter had learned a thing or two from their initial encounter as he kept good distance and refused to be baited into Toney’s rope-a-dope tactics. Toney was kept at the end of Peter’s probing jab, which was useful in setting up that clubbing right of his.
In the fifth, Toney’s left eye was beginning to close and blood began to trickle from his lower lip. While both the stamina of both fighters was near depleted in the later parts of the contest, neither would concede defeat but it was Peter who was continuing to dictate the pace and tempo of the fight.
Peter made it a point to flurry at the end of each round and was well advised to do so as it clearly left an impression with the audience and undoubtedly the judges. In the end, Peter would have his vindication as well as become a legitimate player in the heavyweight scene. Scores of 119-108 and 118-110 twice, were all for Peter while in defeat, James Toney drops to 69-6-3 (43).
With the victory, Samuel Peter, 28-1 (22), becomes the mandatory challenger to WBC Champion Oleg Makaev. There is little doubt that if Peter repeats such a stellar performance, the belt is all but assuredly his.
