24.09.05 – By Danny Serratelli: One thing can be said about the Main Event on Saturday night, it will be interesting. While both men unquestionably pack legitimate heavyweight power, the question mark surrounding both men is what makes this match one of the most highly anticipated heavyweight matchups of the year. The younger Klitschko, who was once presumed to be the division’s savior, has had some unexplainable breakdowns in the ring..
Despite his obvious advantage in size, skill and power compared to most heavyweights, something only Wladamir really knows happened in the Lamont Brewster fight. Klitschko looked bad near the end of that fight and was stopped without ever absorbing any real punishing blows. Peter, who has an unblemished record as a professional hasn’t fought the quality of opposition that Klitschko has. While Klitschko will again be the bigger, and apparently more skillful and powerful heavyweight in the ring on Saturday, that alone does not win fights.
Both Ray Mercer and Jameel McCline must have been really upset when they saw Wladamir Klitschko come apart against Corrie Sanders and Lamont Brewster. Both Mercer and McCline were dominated by Klitschko at a time when he seemed like he was becoming indestructible. Soon after, he lost his aura of indestructibility when Corrie Sanders stopped him in 2 rounds. While Sanders legitimately stopped Klitschko who seemed to be in unfamiliar territory when he was hurt in that fight, the Brewster fight is still a mystery. We all know that Brewster won the fight, but what happened to Wladamir? Did his chin fail him? It didn’t appear he was hurt. Was he out of gas? It was only the 5th round, and Wladamir had been 12 rounds before without a problem. If it was a conditioning problem or he was sick, that’s fixable, but if the problem was in Klitschko’s heart or head, that is something that can finish the most physically skilled fighter. Yes, Emanuel Stewart is in his corner and is a great trainer, however all the technical advice and training in the world may not help this type of problem.
Klitschko was the first man to ever knock the iron chinned Ray Mercer unconscious (for a few seconds) before Mercer got up and absorbed a lot of punishment until the referee called a halt to the bout in the 6th round (Mercer also once took a knew against Evender Holyfield). Wladamir can win this fight with the 1-2. He has one of the hardest and most accurate jabs in the heavyweight division. The jab can keep Peter honest and the right that follows brings a lot of power to follow up. However, Samuel Peter comes to fight. He is a proud warrior from Nigeria. Main Events has not been shy in stating they want Peter to fight anyone and everyone. Peter and his camp truly believe that Peter will win this fight.
If Wladamir uses the jab and doesn’t get countered often enough and unleashes enough damage on Peter before Peter can get to him, then it may be a replay of the Mercer or McCline fights. However, whatever is wrong with Wladamir is not going to magically disappear. If Peter can begin to land his own jab and drop a few bombs on Wlad the tide may change. You can find both men favored if you look around for betting lines on the fight, something you very rarely see if ever. Samuel Peter can pull off the victory and and there is a good chance Peter will win this fight by a early-middle round knockout. A Peter victory may make for the most exciting fight and would set up a great showdown between Peter and Wladimir’s older brother Vitali. However, Wladamir will be dangerous early, and if he makes it to the late rounds that will mean that he has been able to dictate the fight with his jab and that Peter couldn’t put him away. Either way, one fighter walks away from this fight as a legitimate force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division. It will be either redemption for Wladamir or Peter showing he is for real. It’s a very tough fight to call and that is what makes it such an interesting match up. After seeing some meaningless fights on pay per view, it is an added bonus that this fight will be aired on HBO.