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07.10.07 – By Ted Sares, photo David M Warr / DKP– After getting through the anger and frustration of having an electrical storm wipe out my plans to watch and cover Pacquiao vs. Barrera, I was relegated to watching Jameel McCline fight Sam Peter in what I though would be a blow out for Peter.
The first round was won by Peter who showed excellent technical skills with a double and even triple jab.
But at the very end of the second round (which Peter was winning), he was felled for the first time in his career by a McCline uppercut that stunned him. During the third, Sam hit the deck two more times and was on the very brink of disaster thanks to some brutal overhand rights from “Big Time.” To Sam’s credit, he showed amazing fortitude in getting through the brutal mugging even though he was on Queer Street for most of the round. In the meantime, Announcer Al Bernstein was doing a less than stellar job referring to McCline’s overhand rights as uppercuts and continually referring to McCline as Whittaker (as in Lance and/or Goofy).
Big Time,” fighting with his mouth open as is often his wont, let the “Nightmare” off the hook, as Peter came back with good body shots and battled his way back into the fight. By the seventh round, he had tightened up matters and continued his good work to the body.
In the eighth, McCline used uppercuts to fend off The Nightmare and going into the ninth, I had it a close fight. Going into the tenth, conditioning became a factor, as both men slowed down the action exchanging jabs and body shots. Peter landed a menacing right, and seemed to win the round handily.
As the fight moved into the championship rounds, it appeared to me it was up for grabs with a lean toward Peter.
The eleventh ended with a punishing combo from Peter which bloodied McCline’s mouth and, when combined with a badly bruised right eye, gave McCline the look of someone who had taken some wicked shots. Peter ended the fight as he started, with good jabs.
The scorecards favored Sam Peter 113-112, 115-111, 115-110. While I thought the disparity was a bit large, I have no issue with the decision. I had it 113-112 for Peter.
We now know Sam Peter can be hurt and decked. We also know he has the heart of a lion. As well, we witnessed Jameel McCline redeem himself by showing he can mix well at the top level. All in all, it was a very pleasing heavyweight fight.