Samuel Peter takes on Alex Leapai on October 24 in Queensland Australia

Samuel Peter takes on Alex Leapai on October 24 in Queensland Australia

In news which will surprise some, and seems standard to others, former WBC heavyweight champion of the world Samuel Peter has signed to fight recent title challenger, and popular contender, Alex Leapai. The 10 round bout is scheduled for October 24 of this year, given the former champion barely two months to prepare, and is set for Leapai’s home country of Australia. The news has been confirmed by several media outlets and the bout is listed on the usually reliable boxrec.com.

Rumours have been circulating since December of last year that Peter was planning a ring return. The always popular Nigerian powerhouse was reportedly said to be struggling with the idea of retiring off of two back to back losses, the last being a particularly shocking, and painful to watch, knockout at the hands of Robert Helenius three years ago. The nature of that loss and the fact that Peter has not boxed in three years will give his former fans a rather ominous sense of foreboding ahead of this fight. Does Peter really want another crack at the big time? Or is it simply another sad case of a former star and champion secretly battling financial losses and succumbing to acceptance of the role as the ‘opponent’ on another fighter’s card. As with the Helenius fight, this bout is going to be an Alex Leapai show in front of his fans. Peter has been chosen by team Leapai as a big name to build upon after a hopelessly one sided title defeat to Wladimir Klitschko.

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Tyson Fury 18st five pounds Alexander Ustinov 20st five oz

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Tyson Fury and Alexander Ustinov faced off during their weigh in for tomorrow nights eagerly awaited heavyweight clash this afternoon. Ustinov took to the scales tipping in at 20st 5oz while Fury came in almost two stone lighter at 18st 5 pounds

Ustinov, a cerebral looking individual, looked considerably slimmer than has been seen in previous bouts, still packing those immensely powerful arms and upper body. Fury, as promised, looked svelte, trim and athletic. His physique was a far cry from that which we saw against Joey Abell in his most recent bout. The crowd were fired up as the Manchester showman arrived, and in contrast to his press conference appearances Tyson seemed to really have his game face on as the two went head to head. Tyson announced he’s ‘going to inflict pain on you.’ Ustinov simply smiled off the trash talk.

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How much will Saturday night tell us about the future of Tyson Fury?

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In a bout no one could have foreseen or predicted, this Saturday night boxing fans shall witness Tyson Fury attempt to maintain his lofty world ranking against the dangerous fringe contender Alexander Ustinov. The collapse of the Dereck Chisora rematch renders any discussion of him, or Fury’s attitude to him a moot point. What fight fans need to consider is what this bout has the potential to tell us about Fury’s current standing in the division, and whether or not it shall serve as a good indicator of Fury’s ability to mentally reign himself in after massive disappointment.

Whether loved or loathed the Mancunian giant inspires opinion among all those who watch him fight, or even just hear him speak. Many including this author see massive potential on a world level in Tyson Fury; however, large bastions of boxing’s faithful will be very quick to arrogantly dismiss him as an overblown hype job. The polarizing views fans have about Tyson Fury are not quite as easy to understand as one might think.

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