By James Slater – Last seen being brutally destroyed by unbeaten Finnish big man Robert Helenius, former WBC heavyweight champ Samuel Peter will return to action on June 23rd. The 31-year-old “Nigerian Nightmare” lost to “The Nordic Nightmare” back in April of last year, and he was beaten up in a savage 9th-round.
Now set to return at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida on promoter Don King’s June card that will feature another heavyweight scrap, between DaVarryl Williamson and Tony Grano (can you say “fun fight?”), Peter wants to give it one more go..
Fans may know how Mexican-American heavyweight contender Chris Arreola is set to fight on the same June 23rd night, but we know now that “The Nightmare” (really, how many heavyweights have used this same nickname or variations of it!) will not be facing Peter next month. I don’t know about you, but I’d still love to see this match-up one day, but I guess, with an almost guaranteed shot at Wladimir Klitschko in the offing, Arreola would be foolish to risk it with a still-dangerous Peter.
But how much has Peter, 34-5(27) got left? How much can he have left?
Having been in his share of wars/punishing fights (see his three fights with the Klitschkos, his tough, up-from-the-canvas-three-times night Vs. Jameel McCline and his KO loss to Helenius), Peter’s punch resistance may have all-but left him. Peter’s weight and general conditioning, too, were factors that brought in question marks. Having been as heavy as 265 for his loss to Eddie Chambers, Peter slimmed down to 241 for his return loss to Wladimir. Peter was back up to 260 for the Helenius fight.
If Peter has been training hard after returning to the gym when his wounds from the Helenius fight had healed, and if he has retained enough drive to really give it his all in this, his last run at reaching the top, then maybe his upcoming fights will be worth watching. At one point in time, Peter, as exciting and as powerful as he was, looked like as future star. It never quite turned out that way, but Peter is not done yet – although he could be after this next fight.
It will be interesting to see who they bring in as Peter’s opponent next month.