/ 10 October 2008

Boxing’s great set-up

Sam Peter stands 1,8m tall (or a little under, according to some hawk-eyed cynics) and is rightly proud of being Nigeria’s first world heavyweight champion.

Having endured all manner of interruptions, delays and frustrations in his career, Peter is making serious money to go with the belt he wears on behalf of the World Boxing Council.

You have to admire his perseverance. In 2006 and 2007 he had to beat James Toney twice in title eliminators (in itself preposterous), but victory over Jameel McCline in his next bout did not land him the title. He was, according to the WBC, only its interim champion. Who could it have been waiting for?

Peter (28) finally got his hands on the WBC belt when he knocked out the fading Russian Oleg Maskaev in a Mexican bullring in March. But now the Nigerian champion has been handed a most curious fight for his first defence — at the O2 World arena in Berlin on Saturday.

It is not that the challenger, Vitali Klitschko, will besmirch the sport’s fine name with a lousy performance. In fact, it should be some show while it lasts, as both can hit and be hit — dangerous and vulnerable at the same time. It is just that, logically and fairly — words not overused in boxing — the Nigerian should not be defending his championship against Klitschko.

Even though he is 37, has a history of fight-delaying injuries and has not been in a ring for nearly four years, Klitschko is not called Dr Ironfist for reasons of hype alone. Certainly he is physically vulnerable, whatever his imposing ring presence, but he is probably the most concussive hitter in the division. One punch and Peter’s world could come crashing down around him.

Klitschko did it to Julius Francis in 1998. He did it to Herbie Hide in 1999. He took eight rounds to do it to Danny Williams in 2004 in his last fight. Twenty-two of his 37 contests have not gone past the second round. You would not imagine that Peter, no matter his pride in his abilities, would have chosen Klitschko as the first man to test his own dodgy whiskers. This would seem to be matchmaking of which Amir Khan’s recently dismissed trainer, Jorge Rubio, would be proud.

The man ultimately responsible for the pairing is José Sulaimán, who has been president of the WBC for 33 years and has promised to go on for as long as his health allows, a prospect that pleases some people in boxing more than others. Klitschko has reason to be grateful to Don José. He revealed last week that the president told him a year ago he would get this chance, as champion emeritus, the organisation’s grandiose title bestowed on the Ukrainian in recognition of his achievements when he was champion in 2004.

Klitschko is big in Kiev — at just taller than 2m he is big all over. But how can an old man shake off all that ring rust, even a Dr Ironfist? He cannot, but he maintains it will not be an issue. He will take his title back, brutally, he says. Commonsense says the younger, fresher, hungrier Peter should win. But if he does, it looks like it will be against the odds.

Peter’s handlers call him the Nigerian Nightmare — and nightmares are what they were having the evening last October when their meal ticket went down three times early in the fight before getting the decision over so-so McCline at Madison Square Garden. Peter showed a lot of grit, but the invincibility he had cultivated since his debut in 2001 was gone. He was a contender only for as long as he looked after his chin.

It is no secret that the big-money fight the promoters wanted for Klitschko’s comeback, after his retirement in 2005, was against Maskaev in Moscow. It is why they kept the title on hold. But, while their representatives and TV negotiators haggled, Peter stepped in to spoil all that last March. He looked impressive stopping Maskaev in six rounds, although he was rocked a few times on the way to his 30th and most significant win.

In any fair scenario — which the boxing business does not do — Klitschko should be ranked down the WBC list. But the WBC seems fascinated by Klitschko — or, more to the point, his clout in Europe and Russia, which is the new powerhouse of heavyweight boxing since the decline of the American heavyweights over the past several years.

When the fighters spoke on the phone during the week — Klitschko from his training camp in Austria, Peter from his in the Black Forest — it was the champion who sounded as if he were the challenger.

They struggled to work up much enmity — both are gentlemen, if not gentle men — and the best Peter could do by way of insult was to say he has been chopping wood to get fit and would chop down the tree that is Klitschko.

The doctor said there was nothing personal in it, but he was going to have to take his title back. Not very Tysonesque. —