Below is a tribute in the Guardian Editorial to Samuel Peters.
Samuel Peter is ‘king of the world’
In the early hours of yesterday at the fabled Madison Square Garden, New York, a boxing arena which has hosted the most memorable and historic title fights, Nigeria’s own Samuel Peter became the “king of the world” after deservedly defeating American giant of a man, Jameel McCline in his first defence of what the World Boxing Council (WBC) calls “an interim heavyweight champion of the world”.
Interim or not, there is no one, whatever country they may come from, who can deny that “the Nigerian Nightmare” is not a worthy champion of the world. Nobody today, can lay a better claim to the world’s most credible heavyweight boxing championship crown. For sure, no one has ever been made to work harder than the 27-year-old pugilist who hails from Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria.
For the records, it is not found in the history books of world boxing, that a contender needed to win a world title elimination bout twice against the same fellow contender in order to get a shot at the world title belt. But this is what happened in Peter’s case.
As if the WBC was astonished that a young boy from the African continent could rise to the pinnacle of sport just like that, the body ordered a re-match between Peter and American James “Lights Out” Toney, whom the Nigerian had beaten convincingly on all the judges’ score cards. The world, particularly his fellow countrymen, cried blue murder and daylight robbery.
For Peter, that “robbery” was just one of the hurdles he needed to scale over in order to reach the ultimate goal, or an occupational hazard. A confident Peter agreed to fight Toney again, and defeated him, this time even more convincingly. The stage was thus set for an exciting title fight between the WBC champion, Oleg Maskaev of Russia and the number one contender for the title, Samuel Peter.
But this was where the “game of tricks” began. First, staggering monetary offers were made to Peter so he may trade away his immediate chance for the title, and allow Maskaev to fight someone else. Peter refused and held his ground. Again, Maskaev complained of an injury and asked that the inevitable encounter should be delayed. It was perhaps at this point that the WBC came to terms with what almost everyone had all along known for a fact. Maskaev did not trust his chances against the Nigerian. Quickly, the WBC and Don King Promotions found a substitute, in an American, Jameel “Big Time” McCline, who boasted of a decent 38-7-3 (23 KO’s) professional record, and was trying to be fourth-time lucky after three failed previous attempts.
Many a faithful of the sport knew how dangerous a “last minute” substitute title challenger could be since all the pressure would be on the defending champion. As it turned out, McCline was very dangerous yesterday at the Madison Square Garden, at least for the first three rounds. In fact, Peter was only one flush punch to the chin away from being knocked out, and his title snatched. But due credit must be given to Peter, who was knocked down once in the second round and two more times in the third, before getting up to weather the storm and then went on to win the next nine rounds.
The judges’ scorecards told the story better. Billy Costello scored the fight 115-110. Steve Weisfeld scored it 115-111, while judge Julie Lederman scored the bout 113-112 for a unanimous decision in the Nigerian’s favour. And so, exactly 41 years after a Nigerian last held a world title, Samuel Peter has done his country proud by becoming only the third Nigerian, after Hogan “Kid” Bassey (featherweight) and Dick Ihetu Tiger (middleweight and light heavyweight) to wear a world boxing crown. And as if to justify his compatriots’ patient wait after all these barren years, Peter has won unarguably the biggest prize, not only in the sport of boxing, but in all of sports.
Peter deserves commendation for his discipline and single-minded approach, and value-driven character. He would have to remain disciplined, hardworking, and focused if he wants to keep the title for a long time just as the likes of Joe Louis Rocky Marciano and Larry Holmes (Americans all) did in their days. “If you are the world boxing champion in a weight category other than the heavyweight class, you very much belong in your class. But if you become the world heavyweight champion, you are the king of the world. You are second to no one.” Those were the words of boxing legend, Muhammad Ali (formerly Cassius Marcellius Clay Jr.), after his stunning knockout victory over the dreaded defending champion Sonny Liston some 43 years ago.
Those words: “I am the king of the world!” still echo in the minds of boxing faithful around the world. After a most eventful and storied career in sport, Ali, in the final estimation of everyone, was what he always screamed he was: “The Greatest.” The substance of Ali’s legend lies in his total commitment to his trade, his discipline and passion. Samuel Peter should realise that it is not enough to be “king of the world”, it is more important to remain consistently good.
Those three knock-downs, in the hands of McCline should remind Peter that life at the topmost level is not all picnic and fun. He should anticipate tougher times ahead, retain his focus and not allow the good things of life at the top blow him away from his goal to be Nigeria’s and indeed Africa’s ambassador in boxing.
When a world heavyweight boxing champion speaks, the world listens. We hope Peter will use this opportunity to speak for the downtrodden, his country, and his continent, at the world stage. Congratulations, Peter.
donne4real | December 11, 2007
