30.08.05 – By Izyaslav “Slava” Koza: I just read that interview where Samuel Peter and his promoter Ivaylo Goytzev are basically pouring dirt all over Emanuel Steward, and I just had to write my opinion of the whole affair. To me, that is something rather odd to hear trainers getting attacked like this, because usually fighters take their time in tearing down their opponent instead of his corner.. What I’m thinking is they want to agitate Steward enough to tell Wladimir to go after Peter early, where they have the best shot to win. Basically, unless Samuel Peter is just that damn good, I don’t see how he can outbox Wladimir Klitschko. I also don’t think he has a chance to stop him late, although obviously there is a first time for everything. Therefore, the plan is to get Wladimir to exchange punches early and not only get the win, but to fulfill their prophecy and have the last laugh.
It’s a decent strategy if we think about it, because most people believe Steward was responsible for and convinced Wladimir to take this fight. If it does turn out that they are trying to push Steward to push Klitschko, then that would be a revolutionary way of getting the win as far, as I am concerned.
Now, the reason I think it’s a strategy coming from the Peter camp is because there is no way that they can just heap insults on a great trainer like Emanuel Steward and actually believe it. Goytzev points to Vivian Harris getting knocked out by Carlos Maussa as proof that Steward is a bad trainer. Honestly, if anybody saw that fight, they would know that Harris was doing almost everything but following Steward’s advice. (i.e. there is no way that Emanuel Steward could have been fighting Carlos Maussa instead of Vivian Harris. Yes Steward made the mistake of getting frustrated right before Maussa took Harris out, but all that really did was save Harris from getting knocked out a few rounds later.)
Conveniently, both Goytzev and Peter forget, or simply don’t know, about Thomas Hearns, Micheal Moorer, Gerald Mclellan and Lennox Lewis, as some of Steward’s best accomplishments. Emanuel Steward wasn’t in the boxing game this long getting by on looks, it was on brains and experience and his stable of hall of fame fighters proves this. Furthermore, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Mr. Goytzev, but Vivian Harris is not a middleweight; he fights at 140 pounds. Steward also isn’t trying to sell a used car, because he is not a promoter but a trainer. Let’s be honest, if Wladimir Klitschko gets knocked out by Samuel Peter, then Emanuel Steward loses out because he was the mastermind behind the fight taking place. He won’t part ways with Klitschko and count his dollars because he will have been wrong in over estimating Wladimir’s abilities.
So, in closing, I have to say that these are some pretty silly theories coming from the Peter camp, in my opinion. I think I have a good understanding now of why Vasili Jirov parted ways with Ivailo Goytzev. It seems that if they really wanted to get in the mind of the Klitschko camp, they should have started flinging insults at Vitali Klitschko, not Emanuel Steward, so on the 50/50 shot that they win, the match with Vitali Klitschko would be easier to set up.
Oh, and I particularly enjoyed the way in which Samuel Peter likes to trash his opponent and or his corner in every fight and then thank Jesus, as if his faith in the lord allows him to say such things. Emanuel Steward is a hall of fame trainer, and I bet if he offered to train Samuel Peter, those guys would be singing a different tune. However, I have a hunch that Emanuel Steward would only agree to train Peter in one place and one place only, and that, guys, is in Peter’s dreams.