by David P. Greisman
With nearly 500 pounds combined between their rotund frames, what were the odds that the key word to describe Samuel Peter and James Toney would be “stick”?
Yet even while carrying 257 pounds – one pound less than his heaviest appearance as a professional – Samuel Peter is sticking around the heavyweight division, a contender consistently improving and constantly dangerous.
As Lennox Lewis aged and the search for the next top heavyweight began, numerous prospects and pretenders fizzled out, while promising possibles disappeared before much impact could be made.
But Samuel Peter was all about impact from the moment the cameras were turned toward him. His eye-catching one-punch knockout of Jeremy Williams in December 2004 launched Peter on the path to prominence while unceremoniously sending Williams into retirement as a trainer on The Contender reality show.
While Williams’ face was becoming famous, his name was rarely mentioned. Peter, however, had the buzz building as he stopped Yanqui Diaz, Gilbert Martinez and Taurus Sykes, clubbing them into submission en route to a meeting with former promising possible Wladimir Klitschko.
The reward, aside from mandatory positioning with two sanctioning bodies, was recognition. Unfortunately for Peter, his three knockdowns of Klitschko weren’t enough for victory, but at the very least his chin was tested and shown to be as solid as it looked.
Meanwhile, Peter’s weight was increasing but his grasp of technique was not. Nevertheless, any foes that climbed into the ring to face him had to expect clubbing blows and wide hooks that, efficiency be damned, dealt damage with each individual connect.
Against James Toney, though, the punches were shorter, the hitting to the back of the head coming more rarely, and the whirlwind suddenly had method to his madness.
Samuel Peter – counter-puncher? What were the odds that Peter would attempt the James Toney equivalent to hooking with a hooker as he countered the wizard, sending rights over Toney’s jab and making sure that Toney’s hubris in attempting left hooks from a distance was responded to with concussive consequences?
Throughout Peter’s quick rise in the heavyweight division, criticism has always been responded to with the stock answer, “He’s young and he’s raw, but he’s hungry, powerful and will improve.”
The sizable power and hunger were frightening enough. But unless his chin is dented or an Achilles heel exposed, Peter, who will turn 26 on Wednesday, will stick around, continue to improve and, with the inconsistent Oleg Maskaev on the horizon, “the Nigerian Nightmare” may achieve his dream and become a champion.
Toney, meanwhile, has become a measuring stick to the heavyweights, albeit one that tests the top tier instead of being a name on the record of rising prospects in numerous crossroads fights.
Against Peter, Toney showed that subtle defensive movements could negate Peter for a majority of the time, forcing the power puncher to patiently wait for a second wind to arrive and for Toney to duck into range. This scribe’s scorecard saw Toney the victor at 114-113, and it was inconceivable that any judge could give Peter nine of the 12 rounds.
But had Toney owned the kind of heavyweight power that harms – instead of the kind that hurts, bruises, bleeds and keeps overconfident bigger men honest – the chances of the former middleweight champion taking the decision against Peter and moving closer to becoming the heavyweight king would have been more likely.
Instead, Toney’s 233 pounds gave him enough size and presence to not be bullied around, while whatever remaining speed and slickness assisted in defense and gorgeous counter-punching and combinations. The problem, though, is similar to the one that made Chris Byrd stop moving and stand in the pocket more often – convincing observers that his punches are effective, and that opponents who appear active are nonetheless missing often.
At 38 years old and nearly 18 years into his professional career, it is as if Toney is now getting by on instinct and experience, showing that fighting is his nature. But time is passing, and so, too, must James Toney at some point. He has now had three shots at the top, but a positive test for banned substances took away the John Ruiz title victory, and the scorecards never ended up with “Lights Out” on top against Peter and Hasim Rahman.
He’s a fighter, though, and what are the odds that James Toney buys into letting himself becoming something else? His career, and thus his life, is about pride, manhood and ability, and showing that, for as long as he chooses, he and his are bigger and better than the rest of those prospects, pretenders and promising possibles.
The 10 Count
1. Last week I noted that HBO Boxing habitually builds their business around stars as opposed to around great fights. Part of that approach includes penciling their fighters in for scheduled dates without necessarily having a specific opponent in mind to fill out the card, a practice done recently with Winky Wright, Floyd Mayweather, Wladimir Klitschko, Joe Calzaghe and Jermain Taylor. According to a couple of boxing reporters, though, HBO may now be attempting to brand Jesus Chavez and Andre Berto through their broadcasts.
Greg Leon cited Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer in reporting that Chavez was to return from an injury against an unnamed opponent on a Nov. 25 Boxing After Dark broadcast, an assertion that goes against Steve Kim’s brief about that date possibly going to Jermain Taylor’s middleweight championship defense against Kassim Ouma. Kim also pointed out that the quickly approaching Oct. 14 edition of Boxing After Dark has neither a main event nor an opponent for co-feature contestant Berto.
2. Sticking with the aforementioned Jermain Taylor for a moment, during the season finale of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights Teddy Atlas confirmed that Kassim Ouma is the champion’s next opponent. Taylor will now have gone from facing Bernard Hopkins twice and Winky Wright once to defending against a junior middleweight that is rising up a division but is full of talent and energy. After winning twice and drawing once in fights that had close or controversial decisions, Taylor needs a clear outcome in his favor and then commendation for choosing another tough foe in Ouma who – while he has not yet done anything at middleweight – is still a better opponent at the moment than Contender champion Sergio Mora.
3. Across the pond, Clinton Woods took a close split decision over Glencoffe Johnson to retain his light heavyweight title, evening up their trilogy at one win apiece with one draw. With the win, Woods is looking toward a lucrative British showdown with Welshman Joe Calzaghe. As for Johnson, it is another blow to the aptly nicknamed Road Warrior, who has dropped numerous close and controversial decisions on or near his opponents’ home turf.
Sadly, Johnson’s promoters may be protesting the fight under the argument that Woods should have been disqualified when one member of Woods’ team jumped onto the apron during the action, only to be told to get down by the referee. As with the manner in which April’s Zab Judah-Floyd Mayweather bout was handled following an in-ring melee, fights like Woods-Johnson III should be decided by the fighters and not by technicalities that had no bearing on the outcome.
4. On the undercard of Woods-Johnson III, junior welterweight Souleymane M’baye stopped Raul Balbi to earn the WBA title vacated by Ricky Hatton. Whereas M’baye earned his title shot by taking a split decision over then-undefeated Andreas Kotelnik nearly two years ago, Balbi fit into the sanctioning body’s equation by beating a bunch of guys I’ve never heard of to hold onto a fringe trinket known as the WBA Fedelatin title.
5. Speaking of Ricky Hatton, the Mancunian has vacated the WBA welterweight belt he picked up in May with a close decision over Luis Collazo, according to the Associated Press. Hatton is now belt-less, having ditched the 140-lb. WBA strap he took from Carlos Maussa (the one that now belongs to the aforementioned M’baye) and left that division’s IBF belt vacated for Juan Urango and Naoufel Ben Rabah to battle over. Urango won, and now Hatton will return to junior welterweight to challenge him for the title Hatton won last year from Kostya Tszyu, while simultaneously defending his recognition as true champion of that weight class.
6. Hopefully Hatton will put up more of a fight in the ring against Urango than he did in China about two weeks ago. According to the Daily Mirror, Hatton – who was in Shanghai to watch the Manchester City soccer team – was walking back to his hotel when a gang confronted him and robbed him of his Rolex watch. While it is an embarrassing reason to end up in the news, Hatton did the proper thing by not offering much resistance; “Champ Hatton mugged” is a much better headline to read than “Champ Hatton killed.”
7. A “Boxers Behaving Badly” update: After less than four months in jail, former featherweight titlist Prince Naseem Hamed will be released into monitored home detention, according to multiple reports overseas. Hamed had been sentenced to 15 months in prison for dangerous driving after colliding his expensive car into another driver, injuring him seriously.
8. There are two things to watch out for after last week’s cancellation of the junior featherweight trinket fight between Steve Molitor and Gabula Vabaza. The first item of note is Vabaza, who failed his pre-fight medical exam, according to SportsTicker. With no information being given as to Vabaza’s health, warning flags should go up the next time Vabaza is scheduled to fight. Of second, lesser importance is Molitor, particularly whether the IBF will give him another shot at the title that was formerly held by 122-lb. kingpin Israel Vazquez.
9. On the season finale of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, Emanuel Augustus knocked out Courtney Burton in a rematch of their 2004 fight in which Burton was wrongfully awarded a split decision victory. Since 2004, Burton has been knocked out by Julio Diaz, taken (an apt verb) the aforementioned win over Augustus, and been stopped by Ebo Elder, Rolando Reyes, Juan Lazcano, and now Augustus. With that sort of streak, the unavoidable truth is that it’s time for fans to say, “Thank you for the memories and entertainment, Courtney, but please retire.”
10. The Contender Update: In the first week of quarterfinal matches, former junior lightweight titlist and current betting favorite Steve Forbes won a five-round split decision over Nick Acevedo.
Three other bouts remain to decide the semifinalists: Cornelius Bundrage against Walter Wright, Michael Stewart versus former blue teammate Grady Brewer, and Norberto Bravo against Gary Balletto.
The second season of The Contender is wrapping up soon, and its momentum seems to be carrying it toward a live finale that will hopefully draw many of the millions of viewers who have caught Mark Burnett’s boxing reality show during its multiple airings.
