There was a time before Wladimir Klitschko stepped into the ring with Corrie Sanders that Wladimir was the big name Klitschko. Not as many had heard of Vitali like they had Wladimir, and most thought that Wladimir would the brother who would eventually win heavyweight gold. But, things changed after that fight. Wladimir was abruptly knocked out, and later his brother Vitali would give Lennox Lewis all he could handle in a fight in Los Angeles. Since then Vitali has been soaring, while Wladimir has stayed stagnant.

    Vitali soared to wins over Kirk Johnson, Danny Williams, and won the WBC title against Corrie
Sanders, avenging his brother's defeat. Since then Vitali has become the big name Klitschko, while Wladimir has been struggling to try and recover. A couple of fights later Wladimir would suffer another setback, losing to Lamon Brewster, and as a result his training regimen came into question. In the fight, Wladimir seemed exhausted by the fifth round, and even more questions were raised after this. Since then Wladimir has been playing it safe, fighting basically hand picked opponents.

    Since the loss to Brewster fight, Wladimir fought DaVarryl Williamson and won an uneventful technical decision, and wanted no part of a rematch. He then fought career cruiserweight Eliseo Castillo and won. Still, not the work of a man trying to get his name back to where it once stood in the heavyweight division. But, finally on Saturday Wladimir will be taking a risky fight, some would even say too risky, as he faces on the Nigerian Nightmare Samuel Peter.
   There's a good and a bad for Klitschko going into this fight. The good is; if he can win the win would likely restore people's faith in him, and rocket him up the division. A loss would send him sputtering back down. Peter is a very dangerous fight, some have said he is the future of the division, and certainly the hottest prospect in it. Peter has been destroying everything in his path en route to a 24-0 record with 21KOs. So, why would Klitschko choose this guy, instead of handpicking somebody like the past? Well for one, he didn't have much choice.

    Klitschko probably wishes he would have given DaVarryl Williamson a rematch in another eliminator. But, now Williamson has closed that door as he will be fighting Chris Byrd for the IBF title. So, if Wladimir wanted to fight in a eliminator it would have to be against Peter, in a fight where a lot of people consider Klitschko the underdog. So, you could argue that he was forced into the risky fight, but I guess the bottom line is that he did take it. He has a lot to gain, but a lot to lose.

    If Klitschko can win this fight he will finally be able to shut up a lot of questions that his critics have had. The first question being does he have the stamina for 12 rounds? If he can beat Peter this will answer that. Another question has been can he beat an upper echelon heavyweight? Again another chance to quiet doubters. The other question he has already answered, will Klitschko ever take a risky fight? Well, he's done that now.

     On Saturday night from the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, it will be put up or shut up time for Wladimir Klitschko. It might be his final chance to prove that he does belong in the company that he was in 4 years ago. A win could be huge, but a loss could be fatal for his career. But, at least he's finally taking a fight in which there are some doubts.