Povetkin out and Peter in to fight Klitschko for titles on September 11
On September 11, 2010, Wladimir Klitschko was scheduled to put his IBF and WBO titles on the line against the undefeated Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin. However, when Povetkin did not show up to the press conference on July 19, 2010 in Germany to officially announce the fight with Klitschko, he was essentially in violation of the promotional contract and therefore the purse bid and the sanctioning body, therefore, forfeiting his chance to fight Klitschko. The Klitschko camp will now turn their attention to former champ “The Nigerian Nightmare” Samuel Peter in a rematch that may not be as good as when these two fighters first tangled five years ago.
This heavyweight championship fight will take place on the same date, same time, and same arena as Klitschko vs. Povetkin was scheduled to. But instead of seeing a potential shocking of the world by Povetkin, we instead see a we have seen this movie before in Peter vs. Klitschko. Let’s just hope there will be a lot of suspense like there was in their first meeting.
When Peter and Klitschko clashed back in 2005, it was a tale of one fighter going into the fight undefeated and destined for heavyweight greatness in Samuel Peter, and another fighter who was for the first time at a crossroad in his career, unsure of how his comeback trail would turn out in Wladimir Klitschko.
During their first encounter in the ring, Peter was able to get inside of Klitschko’s jab many times during the fight, and he knocked Klitschko down three times. Klitschko once again experienced stamina issues during this fight and at one point in the fight he looked defeated. However, even though he was knocked down three times, he controlled the entire fight with his consistent left jab and destructive right crosses, thus earning an unanimous decision victory, handing Peter the first loss of his career.
Now Peter gets a second shot to prove that Klitschko merely got off the hook five years ago, but there is only one problem, Klitschko is a much better fighter now than he was five years ago.
Since winning the unanimous decision over Peter, Dr. Steelhammer has not loss a fight since. He has either retired or knocked out most of his opponents in the past five years with the same old ingredients, the left jab and right cross. Also, Klitschko mixed in a pinch of clinching and leaning on his opponents as well, which frustrated and tired them all out. The strategy for Peter on September 11 will be the same.
One thing that Peter has done in his journey leading up to the rematch against Klitschko was work on his conditioning. Since his embarrassing loss to “Fast” Eddie Chambers back in March of 2009, Peter’s weight has come down from 265 pounds in that fight, to 237 pounds in his last fight in March of this year. In that bout, Peter looked sharp again with a dominating second round stoppage of Nagy Aguilera in a IBF title eliminator bout.
Peter will be going into the fight in September with improved conditioning, but will it be enough to shock the world against Dr. Steelhammer?
Peter’s only chance to shock the world will be to get inside of Klitschko’s jab and to use his tremendous power to dent Klitschko’s eternally questionable chin. Now that Peter has new found energy, he may be able to get inside come September 11, but we don’t know whether or not Peter’s stamina will hold up, being that his last four fights have not so much as entered into the fifth round.
Peter will have a good chance to shake up the heavyweight division in his rematch against Wlad, but if I have to pick a fighter in this fight, I will have to go with Klitschko. I feel that when Peter throws punches to get inside, Klitschko will tie him up and lean on him, and he will either end the night with his signature right cross, or Peter will simply quit on his stool due to frustration and accumulation of punishment.
Once again, like Povetkin, I hope the Nigerian Nightmare is the fighter who emerges as the heavyweight champion, but I just feel that Klitschko is the better fighter. He is definitely craftier and more skillful than Peter, and has only improved since their last outing, which means the rematch might not have quite so much suspense after all.
