Sharkie’s Machine
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
September 25th, 2005
“Vladimir Klitschko Shows His Quality”
Vladimir Klitschko
(45-3-0-40 KO’s) demonstrated that its better to have good boxing skills than
just a big punch, as he used movement, his jab and the old one, two
combination to frustrate and win a decision victory over dangerous, up and
coming, Samuel Peter (24-1-0-21 KO’s). With this win, Vlad becomes the new
owner of the NABF Heavyweight Belt. While the NABF may be a notch below the
WBO, for Vladimir Klitschko, this is a step in the right direction.
Vladimir was beating Peter to the punch and easily winning the first four
rounds until the fifth round, when Peter finally connected with a looping
overhand right to the top of Vladimir’s head, sending him to the canvas. Vlad
beat the count. A moment later, Peter landed a pushing right that saw
Klitschko go down a second time in the round. Again, Klitschko got up in time
and the bell saved him from the momentum Peter was building.
From the sixth round to the ninth, Klitschko was back in the driver’s seat,
popping Peter with his jab, landing an occasional straight right and winning
rounds. Peter was having a hard time landing anything. He kept trying to cut
off the ring and land an over hand right but Klitschko was able to avoid his
power in most of the rounds. Most times, Peter’s punches were grazing Vlad on
the backside of his head.
Vlad fought tall and kept Peter at the end of his long jab. Whenever Peter got
too close, Vlad did the smart thing; he clinched and forced Peter to reset.
In the tenth round, Peter was being outworked and out pointed as Vlad stepped
up the volume of his 1,2 punch combinations. Finally, Peter landed a right
hand that put Vlad down. Vlad got up and showed the crowd that he was not the
same man who fell apart against Sanders and Brewster. Not on this night. Vlad
showed that he did have the stamina to go deep with a big banger and that he
had the heart to get back up if he went down. There were some moments when
Vlad looked nervous but that should be natural if you’re facing a powerful
puncher like Sam Peter.
The eleventh and twelfth rounds belonged to Vladimir, who stuck with his game
plan and used his jab to keep Peter in his place and out of his face. A
Klitschko right hand staggered Peter but Vlad didn’t take the risk of
following up. He was winning the most rounds so it was a wise choice.
In the end, all three Judges scored it identically at 115-111, in favor of
Vladimir Klitschko.
Congratulations to Vladimir, who showed that with discipline and dedication,
anyone could rise back up after a fall from grace. He fought a smart fight
against Peter, clinching at the right times, jabbing well, and using his
assets effectively. It’s a well-deserved victory over a man considered one of
the most dangerous guys in the division. This victory should help Vladimir
recover his lost confidence and focus on improving the things that helped him
win this fight, like good footwork and ring generalship.
For Sam Peter, it’s not the end of the world. He has come a long way in a
short time and should learn some valuable lessons from this fight. Peter must
work on his overall boxing skills and not rely so much on being a one trick
pony to get the job done. Though he lost this fight, he gained a valuable
experience. After all, this is really the first time Peter faced a top ten
opponent. Had Klitschko been a pinch lesser a fighter Saturday night, Peter
might have won by KO.
During the post fight interviews, Klitschko was gracious and humble. He said
he enjoys what he does and credited Peter for being a powerful puncher. It was
clear that he felt great relief that he was able to execute a smart fight plan
and show his fans that he is working his way back into top form.
Sam Peter complained that Vlad held too often and should have stood and
exchanged punches with him, which showed how much Peter has to learn about
fighting with his brains instead of just his brawn. He said he’d like a
rematch down the road and expects he will win it. I think Peter should focus
his energies on developing his technical boxing skills instead of working the
microphone. He has tremendous potential but as Vladimir Klitschko has proven
in the past, potential alone does not win Championships. To Peter’s credit, he
has improved considerably since his big KO win over Jeremy Williams, but he
has a long way to go before he can beat the elite ‘boxers’ in his division.
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
