In a night that will electrify the boxing world,
active World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight Champion Sam Okon
Peter (30-1, 23 KOs) will defend his title against WBC Champion
Emeritus Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs), making his dramatic return
to the ring after a four-year absence, on Saturday, October 11.
Peter, 27, of Las Vegas, by way of Akwa Ibom
State, Nigeria, captured the WBC belt in his first world title fight
on March 8, 2008 in Cancun, Mexico. With his trademark sledgehammer
right hand followed by a sustained flurry of combinations, Peter
blasted his way to a sixth-round TKO over Oleg Maskaev to claim the
belt.
Frustrated in his attempt to secure a rematch
against the only man to defeat him, Wladimir Klitschko, The
Nigerian Nightmare will instead turn his sights to
Wladimir’s brother, Vitali.
"I want to send Vitali back into retirement, and
then end his brother’s reign as champion," boasted Peter, who will
make his fourth SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING appearance in his past
five fights. "I will become the first fighter to end an entire
family’s boxing career. Everyone is going down. The heavyweight
division is mine.
"He doesn’t respect me by coming back to fight me
after being retired for four years," Peter said. "He’s a bum."
Klitschko, who turned 37 on July 19, has not
fought since Dec. 11, 2004, when he successfully defended his WBC
title against Danny Williams in Las Vegas . In 2005, Klitschko was
scheduled to face Hasim Rahman for his next title defense but the
fight was called off when Klitschko injured his knee and back in
training. Since then, Klitschko has run for mayor of his native city
of Kiev, Ukraine , twice, including a reportedly narrow defeat
earlier this year.
Upon his return to boxing, Klitschko is entitled
to challenge Peter immediately for the WBC crown because he retired
without suffering a loss during his reign as champion.
If successful on Oct. 11, Klitschko will join his
younger brother at the top of the heavyweight division, making them
the only siblings in history to hold world heavyweight title belts
simultaneously. Wladimir is the current International Boxing
Federation (IBF), World Boxing Organization (WBO) and International
Boxing Organization (IBO) champion.
"I cannot believe this day is finally here," said
Klitschko, who captured the WBC title on April 24, 2004, with an
eighth-round TKO over Corrie Sanders in Los Angeles . "I am injury
free and ready to take my title back.
"My brother, Wladimir, and I have had a long-time
goal of being heavyweight champions at the same time. That dream
will be realized when I take back what is rightfully mine, the WBC
heavyweight title.
"I never lost the title," he said. "I gave the
title back because I had an injury.The next step will be holding all
of the heavyweight belts with Wladimir."
Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Chagaev, who is currently
injured, holds the World Boxing Association (WBA) belt.
Peter, who sports an undefeated record of 6-0 on
SHOWTIME, including one win on ShoBox: The New Generation in 2004,
has come of age on America’s No. 1 Boxing Network.
After scoring a controversial 12-round split
decision against James Toney in their first outing on Sept. 2, 2006,
Peter left no doubt in the rematch four months later. Peter showed
tremendous improvements in defense and movement when he thoroughly
dominated Toney en route to a 12-round unanimous decision victory
(119-108 and 118-110 twice) in Jan., 2007.
Peter then showed the intestinal fortitude of a
world champion when he recovered from three early knockdowns against
hard-hitting veteran Jameel McCline on Oct. 6, 2007 on SHOWTIME.
After hitting the canvas once in the second and twice in the third
round, Peter pounded away and turned the tide to secure a 12-round
unanimous decision by scores of 115-110, 115-111 and 113-112.
"Vitali Klitschko almost beat Lennox Lewis, so he
is surely one of the dominant heavyweights of this era," said Dino
Duva, Peter’s promoter. "Vitali will prove to be Sam’s toughest test
yet, but a dominant victory will be the first step in Peter’s
mission to rule the heavyweight division."
The man who can put the most force behind his
argument will settle his claim in the ring at the O2 Arena in
Berlin. Both promised that it won’t go the distance - claims they
can back up. Klitschko has knocked out 34 of the 35 opponents he has
beaten, while Peter has 23 KOs in 30 victories.
