I think Wlad took the first Peter fight because he and Manny knew that Sam had a lack of experience. I think that Wlad plans to steer clear of Peter from here on and it was in his interests all along to keep the WBC title out of Peter's hands.

Example: Wlad was and has been calling out Oleg. He even said that if the WBC let him fight Oleg, that he would fight the winner of Peter-Toney 2, which MOST people believed (including Wlad's people) that Toney would win This would have lined up Oleg and then James Toney next for Wlad. These would be good match ups for him, in my opinion since neither has both a strong chin along with punching power. Sam Peter goes on to beat Toney in the rematch by *gasp* outboxing him. This was a surprise for Manny and Wlad, who surely will want no part of a man that knocked him down 3 times and took all his shots PLUS excessive holding and leaning for 11.5 rounds (12 was when Peter finally Judah shuffled)

An experienced Sam Peter with improved boxing skills, most importantly finishing skills causes Wlad a big problem with a fair ref. Experienced also means no rabbit punching either. Sam Peter as WBC champ by beating James Toney twice and Oleg Maskaev would be an almost complete pro boxer. One that Wlad wouldn't call out for unification like he did for Oleg. So now that Little Klit was denied, he and Big bro find a way to keep that belt out of Peter's hands. Hence Vitali's comeback.

I am all for seeing the last legitimate heavyweight champion return, but not like this.

This is my speculation on the reasoning for this. I am no Sam peter fan, but why step over him now? Why didn't Vitali pull him mandatory card right after Oleg dismantled Rahman? This is to stop Peter from getting the WBC belt and I won't be surprised if Maskaev takes a dive.