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The deal is done. Akwa Ibom State-born heavyweight boxing contender, Samuel Peter, will take on Oleg Maskaev, the WBC world champion, later this year. The Nigerian Nightmare is favored by boxing pundits to dethrone an ageing, one-dimensional, and long-inactive champion. Maskaev is something of an accidental champion, coming back after a long hiatus to score an unlikely TKO over younger and more active Hasim Rahman last year. Peter, on the other hand, is a young, hungry fighter who desires the honor, fame, and money that come with being the best. Another incentive is that the WBC belt is the most prestigious of the four major alphabet titles.
The absence of an undisputed, universally recognized world heavyweight champion also means that Peter has an additional motivation: he could reasonably covet the Ring Magazine title in the future, which would cement his legacy forever. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; he can only annex other heavyweight belts and attract universal acclaim after becoming a world heavyweight champion himself.
Peter is on the cusp of becoming the second ever African world heavyweight champion after South African, Corey Sanders, and the first legitimate Nigerian world champion after the ring exploits of the late Richard Ihetu, a.k.a Dick Tiger. Peter is carrying a continental weight of expectations and hopes into this fight. Whether he realizes it or not, therefore, this is much more than his laudable personal ambition to become a world champion; this is about re-legitimizing African boxing on the world stage.
Were he to win this historic fight, Peter would be consolidating a recent resurgence of African boxing in the elite category of the sweet science, which has seen the likes of Kasim Ouma, Ike Quartey, Kofi Jantuah, Lovemore Ndou, Ike Ibeabuchi, Joshua Clottey, and Kingsley Ikeke win or come close to winning world titles against formidable opponents. Peter would also be following in the long line of African world titlists—Azuma Nelson, Richard “Dick Tiger” Ihetu, John “the beast” Mugabi, and Corey Sanders.
Peter should not blow this historic opportunity, especially since this fight came close to not happening due to the despicable politics of the corrupt WBC, which, against all wise counsel, allowed Maskaev to sidestep Peter and enter into negotiations with un-retiring Vitali Klitchko even though Peter had decisioned the cagey James Toney twice to earn a shot at the champion. This advice is not unfounded; Peter came close to earning a title shot and blew it against Vladmir Klitchko because of a debilitating combination of ring naivety and technical deficiency. The latter went on to become IBF world champion while Peter had to fight his way back to reckoning, a frustrating path to a world title that is understandably not the route preferred by most fighters. Very few fighters come back from losing the status of “hot contender” and “undefeated” to earn a second chance at boxing stardom. Peter is one of those few. This speaks volumes for Peter’s character and tenacity of purpose, all of which he must harness for a good showing against Maskaev.
Even Peter’s handlers have, in their moments of modest candor, recognized that their fighter is a work in progress. Despite defeating some quality opponents on his way to contender status, Peter still has a few minuses in his game that he must work to overcome, so that the old but dangerous Maskaev does not exploit them. Peter’s ability to make crucial, career-defining decisions has also been suspect. Because success in this sport is almost as dependent on ring-savvy as it is on the ability to make wise, self-interested career decisions, Peter should take some tough but necessary decisions prior to this fight.
Here are a few things this fight fan, who happens to be Peter’s compatriot, thinks the fighter should do to prove right the bookmakers who are tipping him over Maskaev.
Go Back to School: Peter needs to work on some boxing fundamentals, such as defense, movement, and ring generalship. In the Klitchko and Toney fights, Peter was flatfooted, largely immobile, and unable to cut off the ring as his opponents boxed and moved and countered his wild swings. I have seen Peter box and move beautifully before, so I know that this is a bad habit he picked up recently. He needs to go back a little to the days when he was known more as a boxer-puncher than a pure puncher and reenact what he did then. Rediscovering his good boxing roots can only complement, not undermine, his reputation as a puncher. As a Peter fan, it was frustrating to see him get tagged repeatedly by Klitchko as he surged forward without any head or side-to-side movement. Against Maskaev, he must move out of range and move his head and body to confuse the one-dimensional champion. He should also cut off the ring better and try to trap the slightly taller champion on the ropes. Peter unleashes his most devastating punches when he’s got an opponent trapped on the ropes or in the corner. Against Maskaev, this will be key. The slightly shorter Peter would have to take the fight to the champion and get inside to do some damage. His best chance is a well-executed inside fight punctuated by short, crisp punches. But he can’t just lunge at Maskaev as the experienced champion could catch him on the way in; he has to jab his way in.
Discipline and Patience: Peter needs to learn to be patient. He has a habit of going for a quick knockout in the early rounds, raising questions about his conditioning for a 12-round fight. He has gravitated towards this habit more as his punching power and KO ratio have increased. It is good and bad. The good side of it is that a quick, early round knockout looks spectacular on TV, increases your stock with fans, and ups your marketability. The bad side of it is that, if you rely solely on the quick knockout strategy and you encounter an opponent who won’t go away, two bad things could happen to you. You could become frustrated, confused, and unable to improvise or devise a plan B. You could also punch yourself out and become a sitting target in the later rounds. Both of these things happened to Peter in the Klitchko fight. Peter should know that some opponents have a solid chin and cannot be knocked out with one punch. Maskaev is one such fighter. He is not just a devastating puncher; he can take a descent punch. You don’t become a world champion if you can’t take a punch. Peter must pace himself and systematically break Maskaev down before finishing him off in the middle or late rounds. In other words, Peter must prepare for a long night, not the quick workouts that he’s had against lesser opponents. The solution to all of this is ring discipline. Peter should stay disciplined in the ring no matter what happens. He should not be tempted to abandon his fight plan or to giddily seek an early round KO even if Maskaev shows signs of fatigue or hurt.
Hire a World Class trainer: Peter should hire a world class trainer for this fight. A one or two fight deal could be worked out with such a trainer. Such deals are common in boxing today. Most recently, Oscar De La Hoya hired Freddie Roach to train him for the fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Jermaine Taylor hired Emmanuel Steward to train him for the fight against Winky Wright and has kept him for his subsequent fights. These are elite fighters who recognized that great fights require great trainers and did not want to have an inadequate corner for the biggest fights of their careers. Against Klitchko and in the first Toney fight, the limitations of Peter’s corner were exposed, as his trainers could not come up with a strategy to adjust to the adversity that their fighter faced in those fights. Nor did it seem like they had done a good job of anticipating the strategies of Peter’s opponents. Worse, in both fights, Peter’s poor conditioning was laid bare, as he tired midway. Even in the second Toney fight—in which Peter prevailed more decisively than he did in the first—conditioning was a problem as he slowed down considerably in the later rounds.
Fight at a Consistent Pace: Peter should stop fighting in spurts. He needs to get into a rhythm that he is comfortable with, a pace that suits him, and keep that pace for 12 rounds, only turning it up as occasion demands. In his recent fights he has looked good in spurts. His inconsistent work rate hurt him in the first Toney fight, which he was lucky to win. When you fight in spurts and inconsistently, it doesn’t just look bad with the judges; it gives opportunities and openings to your opponent.
Cut the Weight: In the first fight against Toney, Peter weighed in at an alarming 253 pounds, which clearly reduced his mobility, not to mention his ability to outwork the ring veteran he was fighting. He got down a little for the second Toney fight and it helped him, although he still tired midway into the fight because he was not at his ideal weight. Peter cannot afford to come into the Maskaev fight with any extra weight. Having seen Peter in much better condition against Jovo Pudar, I know that under the right dietary supervision and exercise regimen, he can come down in weight and still keep his awesome knockout power, his signature ring attribute. The ideal weight for Peter, giving his height (he is 6:0 feet), would be in the range of 225-230. Getting there is the responsibility of his trainer, and a great trainer can achieve it. The difference between a good trainer and a great trainer is that the latter would not want his fighter getting in the ring without being in a proper physical and mental condition necessary for an optimum performance.
It all comes back to hiring the right trainer. My suggestions for Peter in this regard are as follows. Teddy Atlas: Peter tried to hire him for the second fight with Toney but locational preferences derailed the deal. Emmanuel Steward: legendary trainer and a stickler for good conditioning. He would turn Peter into a lean, mean punching machine. Floyd Mayweather snr: Great trainer and father of pound-for-pound king, Floyd Mayweather jr.
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Posted by Robot| 24.05.2007 08:48