Klitschko beats Peter to regain WBC title

Eurosport - Sun, 12 Oct 11:33:00 2008

Vitali Klitschko defeated Nigerian Samuel Peter to win back the WBC heavyweight title three years after injury forced him into retirement.

BOXING 2008 Klitschko Peter - 0

Peter suffered at the end of Klitschko's longer reach throughout the fight and decided not to continue after an update of the scores at the end of round eight showed all three judges had marked the Ukrainian ahead.

Klitschko's win means he and younger brother Wladimir are the first siblings to simultaneously hold versions of the world heavyweight title. Wladimir is the IBF and WBO champion.

"Today I have realised one of our dreams and we will carry on dreaming," Klitschko said after the fight.

"It would be great to take all the world titles in the Klitschko family."

Klitschko, 37, began his comeback fight by slowly taking measure of Peter, jabbing away at the defending champion, who was left flailing at times as the cry came out from his corner to "stay low".

Klitschko gradually raised his intensity, patiently waiting before landing a series of crunching rights that left Peter looking increasing desperate as he nursed a cut lip and tried to land a big punch that looked like his only chance of winning.

"I had my chances and I took my chances," said the Ukrainian, who is known as 'Dr Iron Fist', adding that he felt he could have knocked out Peter in the next round or two.

"I saw his speed was not quick enough."

Klitschko won the WBC title in 2004 but had not fought since a successful defence against Briton Danny Williams later that year. In 2005, he withdrew from a fight to defend the title.

Klitschko said he was surprised Peter stopped fighting.

"I was surprised because I promised to stop the fight. I had to stop the fight, not Samuel Peter."

Reuters

Comment 1 - 18 of 38

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. shooting 'slowmotion' skeets.that was what­ vitali did last night.for peter to become great he must­ combine strength(i am still convinced he is the­ strongest heavyweight around) with speed.he must­ sacrifice some fat for flexibility.simple advice!!!!!

    From franklin b concience, on Sun 12 Oct 7:57AM

  2. shooting 'slowmotion' skeets.that was what­ vitali did last night.for peter to become great he must­ combine strength(i am still convinced he is the­ strongest heavyweight around) with speed.he must­ sacrifice some fat for flexibility.simple advice!!!!!

    From franklin b concience, on Sun 12 Oct 7:52AM

  3. not out to criticise but to correct please.peter may­ beat 2nd rates(which heavyweight is not)but with that­ kind of body and style he will never enter the class of­ great african boxers like azumah nelson and @#$%­ tiger.peter has so much natural strength and he is­ still young.if he is not upbraided he will not improve.

    From franklin b concience, on Sun 12 Oct 7:31AM

  4. DONT CRY MY BROTHER, IN THIS LIFE, YOU CANT WIN ALL THE­ TIME. SHED SOME WEIGHT AND CALL FOR ANOTHER MATCH.­ ADEDE CHRIS IBANGA

    From ibbchris, on Sun 12 Oct 5:34AM

  5. Peter is never a serious boxer. it showed in his last­ fight before this defeat. Remember he was knocked down­ twice. He needs to work on his speed. He is too slow to­ win a serious match. I am disappointed but not­ surprised. From Gbolahan, Lagos Nigeria

    From Gee, on Sun 12 Oct 5:23AM

  6. it was a match of brain against brawn! the result was­ most predictable

    From mike onyibe, on Sun 12 Oct 2:09AM

  7. if fight was by just words,i am sure most of the­ compliance would have been champion.both boxer i raise­ my thumbs up for you

    From louis k, on Sun 12 Oct 1:59AM

  8. Peter has absolutely no chance of Beating Klitchko if­ there was a rematch..he does not have the skillsets,­ speed or multidimensional nuance it takes..and it pains­ me to say that as a Nigerian..He was totally outclassed­ today...was absolutely never in the fight..Vitali is­ the real deal..will be very hard to beat for anyone in­ the heavyweight division

    From philip e, on Sun 12 Oct 1:54AM

  9. Hey Jumi4christ2003 or whatever you call yourself, i­ must say you are a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! What have you­ achieved in life? Learn to respect HEROES like SAMUEL­ PETER who has his name recorded in WBC as a HEAVY­ WEIGHT CHAMPION. Where has your name been written?

    From Ab, on Sun 12 Oct 1:17AM

  10. david haye?hahahahahahahahahahahaha. the heavyweight­ class is comatose but dont bring a glorified lightheavy­ to add 'insult' upon injury .

    From franklin b concience, on Sun 12 Oct 1:09AM

  11. DAVID HAYE WOULD SMASH THEM BOTH UP!

    From mighty_molby, on Sun 12 Oct 12:37AM

  12. i hope they will have to fix another fight between both­ of them,if Peter lose the second time then he should­ retire.From Lapping Master(Umuahia)

    From lexwills1, on Sun 12 Oct 12:17AM

  13. peter looked more like a sumo wrestler for that­ fight.what is weight and strength without speed and­ flexibility.the heavyweight class needs a­ revival/deliverance and unfortunately beijing cannot­ even provide a 'messiah'

    From franklin b concience, on Sun 12 Oct 12:11AM

  14. first and foremost he was too heavy for that fight­ hence he could not bob and weave to get inside­ vitali.vitali looked fitter for the fight and if there­ would be any rematch peter must shed e few pounds to­ outmanuervre vitali.he was well beaten.

    From franklin b concience, on Sun 12 Oct 12:07AM

  15. nice job, peter, you had it going, a real champion­ lives to fight another day, I am sure you will bounce­ back from it, thanks for flying the Nigerian flag­ really high.

    From Henry Ejiro, on Sun 12 Oct 12:07AM

  16. Well done Vitaliy! True champion!

    From sasha_solaris, on Sun 12 Oct 12:06AM

  17. Samuel Peter is a big disappointment to african as­ whole.He always failed when the africans and whole­ world expected him to win.I advice him to retire from­ boxing and go back to his village in calbar nigeria and­ enjoy all his dollar.

    From jumi4christ2003, on Sat 11 Oct 11:57PM

  18. they need to fight again.something is wrong

    From validseller, on Sat 11 Oct 11:48PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account