BraggingRightsCorner.com - 'Klitschko Shows his Quality'... Sharkie's Machine by Frank Gonzalez Jr.

Wladimir Klitschko earned a unanimous decision victory (114-111 on all three scorecards) over Sam Peter in a 12 round WBO heavyweight elimination bout. This fight exposed both fighters’ weaknesses and at the same time exhibited some of their hidden strengths. It exposed Peter’s lack of skill and Klitschko’s inability to remain calm and collected when hit. On the other hand, Klitschko showed heart by getting off the canvas three times and continuing to fight and Peter showed that he can go the distance and take a good punch from a legitimate heavyweight. That said, the negatives for both fighters outweighed the positives by a landslide.

Klitschko had a perfect game plan which was to use his jab and keep Peter at a distance and out of his punching range. For the most part it worked to perfection but the few times Peter did get close he was able to either rattle Wladimir or put him down to the canvas which he did in rounds five and ten for a total of three knockdowns. Despite the knockdowns Klitschko was able to get himself together relying on his stiff jab and good ring movement. Peter, on the other hand, seemed to be at a loss as to how to get pass Wladimir’s jab and even after the knockdowns he seemed unable to finish the obviously shaken Klitschko.

Both fighters will look back on this fight and shake their heads at wasted opportunities and their poor performances. Peter will regret not finishing off Klitschko when he was hurt and frazzled and with not doing more in the rounds when he was unable to score knockdowns. Wladimir will regret losing his composure after getting hit with punches that didn’t really hurt him physically but that shook him up mentally causing him to lose his balance and focus. Both fighters will also be less than happy with their conservative level of action, failing to throw more than a handful of meaningful punches throughout the fight.

The difference in the fight was consistency and overall skill level of Klitschko. While Peter certainly created a lot of noise and excitement with the knockdowns, he failed to do much of anything in the other rounds. The judges had it right on the money giving Peter 5 points for the three knockdowns and another point for one of the early rounds while Klitschko easily won the remaining 9 rounds. By easily I mean Klitschko was the only one of the two landing anything in those rounds with Peter simply walking after him and failing to do much of anything.

Even though Klitschko won the fight, his performance leaves a lot to be desired and in a way this win only made him look less like a champion. He struggled against a prospect with an inferior skill level and less ring experience. He also revealed that he still has to overcome a number of mental barriers in order to be a serious threat in the heavyweight division. While most experts believe that Wladimir has a weak chin I believe that his main problem is his weak mentality. For his sake I hope he will eventually be able to overcome his mental blocks and show us the real ability that we all know he has. For Peter, this fight showed his lack of skill but considering this being the early stage of his career this performance will not eliminate him from future chances at trying to achieve heavyweight dominance. However, it should serve him as a valuable lesson in what he needs to do to improve as a boxer for the future. It looks like it’s back to the drawing board for both fighters and we can only hope that they somehow make the necessary adjustments to excite and amaze us in their future bouts.

Questions? Comments? Email Oleg Bershadsky

9-24-05