By Cliff Rold
The Heavyweight division received good news and bad news Saturday night at the O2 World Arena in Berlin, Germany. It’s most marketable fighter, 37-year old Vitali Klitschko (36-2, 35 KO) of Ukraine, returned to the ring after a 3 ½ year absence to reclaim the WBC Heavyweight belt. Klitschko’s long layoff produced no rust and he fought with the timing of a fighter who’d only shortly vacationed.
Put bluntly, it wasn’t even close.
From the first second to the last, Klitschko used his superior height, speed and technique to bludgeon 28-year old Nigerian Samuel Peter (30-2, 23 KO) of Nigeria for all of eight rounds. With his eyes swollen and resolve broken, Peter chose not to make it nine, remaining on his stool between rounds a defeated man. It was perhaps Klitschko’s finest career performance.
For Klitschko fans and Boxing market watchers, that’s the good news. The bad news is that hopes for a universally recognized Heavyweight champion, a role left vacant since the retirement of Lennox Lewis in 2004, just got farther away and the longest Heavyweight championship vacancy in history probably just got longer.
Vitali joins younger brother and WBO/IBF titlist Wladimir as concurrent titlist but the brotherly bond which is sure to keep them apart will leave debate about the World’s best heavyweight to rage. They become the first brother tandem in the sanctioning body era to hold Heavyweight belts at the same time.
Vitali made his case early and often, outperforming Wladimir against Peter (Wladimir won a decision and suffered three official knockdowns). At the onset, Klitschko’s arcing right hand scored first blood in the bout, slashing into the cheek of Peter. Seconds later, a left-right combination wobbled Peter. Peter stayed on his feet and ate a hard right uppercut for his trouble. Peter responded, slowly, with only the occasional pawing jab as he attempted to slip and bob his way inside. He connected late with a right to the body but missed with a follow-up left.
Klitschko’s left was a stinging weapon in the second round, his jab immobilizing Peter’s offense and opening up a steady rain of right hands and lead left hooks. Peter closed the round again with a hard right to the body but his punching efforts remained sporadic as he attempted to ward off the volume of Klitschko’s blows.
The still-reigning titlist attempted a more aggressive start, doubling his jab and cutting a right to the body. Klitschko’s chin remained well out of range, his ability to use his entire 6’7 frame making the 6’0 Peter look even shorter. Peter’s aggression was short lived, reduced to a pattern he followed throughout the fight of following Klitschko around the ring, walking forward in straight lines.
Klitschko’s dominance increased in round four as he nailed Peter early with two hard rights. A Peter attempt at his own right hand glanced off of Klitschko left an opening for an even harder counter right hand from Klitschko. At the close of the round, the crowd waited to hear the obvious as WBC open scoring rules allowed for the announcement of a 40-36 lead for Klitschko on all judges’ cards.
He would extend the lead through rounds five and six. In the latter, Peter would land a singular hard right but it was to little affect as Klitschko’s battering fists began to close both the left and right eyes of the titlist.
Peter’s last stand ultimately would come in round seven as, implored by his corner, he attempted to force his way into the fight with an increase in urgency and punch output. A left right combination to the body landed flush but Vitali took the blows easily and nodded easily away from attempts at rights and lefts to the head. A stunting right froze Peter for a moment and he returned to his corner out of answers and running out of time. In what would be the final round, Peter’s spirit left him as the realization set in that he was facing a better man and there was nothing he could do about it.
Seconds after the announcement of an 80-72 across the board lead, Peter and his handlers conceded from his corner. His choice to end matter before another round will likely be criticized by some, but may have been the only healthy choice he had.
The crowd roared as Vitali rose, vindicated after losing valuable years of his career to an assortment of physical ailments and a failed runs for the Mayor’s office of Kiev. He had returned to what he does best.
Where he goes from here remains to be seen. His WBC mandatory will be 35-year old former IBF Cruiserweight titlist Juan Carlos Gomez (44-1, 35 KO) though more lucrative unification could also come calling in the form of WBA titlist Ruslan Chagaev (24-0-1, 17 KO), currently recovering from an Achilles tear, or even 7’2 WBA interim titlist Nicolay Valuev (49-1, 34 KO) in a battle of giants sure to fill just about any arena.
The world may be farther from a true World Heavyweight champion, but the return of Vitali will surely provide the division a spotlight it’s missed while he was away.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com