Tonight at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City we were treated to a nice doubleheader on HBO as Wladimir Klitschko captured one of his biggest win in years over Nigerian Buzzsaw Samuel Peter, while WBO Jr. Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto went life and death with late replacement Ricardo Torres, eventually grinding out a 7^th round TKO on the undercard.

          Despite being knocked down three times, Klitschko would tame Peter over the course of twelve rounds, winning a 114-111 verdict on all three judges cards. Klitschko was in control early on but found himself on the canvas twice in the fifth round, courtesy of some wild leather from Peter. Just as it seemed Samuel was on the verge of big things, Klitschko would step up his game and control the style and pace of the fight down the stretch. Klitschko again hit the deck in the tenth, but fought on. The two men both rocked each other later in the twelfth. Throughout the contest Samuel Peter absorbed some cracking right hands from Klitschko, each time shaking the punches off with heart and determination.

          Earlier Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto and Ricardo Torres offered up one of the year’s best and most wild fights. Cotto would score a knockdown in the first round, only to be rocked moments later from a chopping shot. In the second round Miguel was in severe danger as he was knocked down and hit repeatedly with hard punches, most notably right hands. Cotto would regroup and went after Torres’ body with reckless abandon in the third. In the fourth Cotto would again score a knockdown. In the fifth Torres took control again and had Miguel reeling. Cotto turned the tables in the sixth, dropping Torres with a flush right hand and would end things a round later and Torres was sent to the canvas for good. With the win Larry Merchant labeled Cotto as the ‘Puerto Rican Gatti’ of the sport.

9-24-2005

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