Sam Peter Defeats James Tony in 12 Round Decision

[Just KC]

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 2 – In a hard-fought 12-round heavyweight battle, 26-year-old Samuel Peter landed enough powerful clubbing haymakers to the back of 38-year-old James Toney’s head and to the veteran’s ample body to convince two of the official judges that youth rules the day.

Peter, who improved to 27-1 (22), won the entertaining fight by split decision with announced scores of 116-111 from judges Alejandro Rochin and Richard Flaherty. Judge Gale Van Hoy scored the bout 115-113 for Toney, which most of the near 10,000 fans that filled the Staples Center to watch the WBC heavyweight title eliminator seemed to agree with.

The Nigerian-born puncher did not do enough to convince the majority of the ringside press that he defeated the former three-division champ who began his career at middleweight 18 years ago, either.

And you can guess how Toney felt about the decision.

“He didn’t do s__t,” bellowed Toney, whose record dropped to 69-5-3 (43) after suffering his first loss in nine years. “To Peter: I ain’t done with your punk ass. I got something for you if you want it.

“I didn’t lose this fight. I took everything away from him.”

Toney did indeed take away much of Peter’s arsenal, but only after absorbing a number of brutally hard right hands to the side and back of the head in the first four rounds of the bout. At certain points during the opening rounds Toney looked as though it was only a matter of time before he would be over-powered by the murderous-punching Nigerian. Toney got his jab off, but landed little else of note, while Peter pressed the fight behind a hard jab to the older man’s chest followed by clubbing rights whenever the younger man was able to press the veteran to the ropes.

However, by the end of the fourth round, Peter was only throwing single power shots, while Toney began to zero in with sharp lead and counter right hands. Toney had to have been encouraged by the sight of Peter breathing so heavily after only a few rounds of action.

In the fifth round, Toney began to put combinations together, but Peter caught him with a big right hand while he leaned along the ropes near the Nigerian’s corner. Peter followed up with two more monster right hands that stunned the veteran while he held onto the top rope with his right glove.

In the sixth round, the two heavyweights fought on equal ground, each landing big right hands and body shots. Toney did excellent work off the ropes in the final minute of the round, but Peter continually pressed him despite eating numerous flush jabs and power shots.

In the second half of the bout, Peter’s face began to show the results of all the jabs he absorbed as his nose, mouth and eye squirted blood with every shot Toney landed.

They still fought on even ground, but Toney’s ring generalship began to slowly take over the bout as Peter slowed down enough for the veteran to step around the young man and pick his shots. From rounds seven through 11, Toney appeared to be in command although Peter would land the occasional haymaker that kept the bout interesting. For the most part, however, Toney landed one-two combinations at will, snuck in left hooks on the inside and dictated the pace of the fight.

In the ninth round, Peter was docked a point by referee Raul Caiz Sr. after Toney backed him up to the ropes and the Nigerian clubbed both of the old man’s ears with both gloves in retaliation. It appeared to most ringside observers that Peter’s back was to the wall. He needed to come up with something big in the next three rounds. Whether he did or not is a matter of opinion.

Peter did go to Toney’s body well in round 10 after knocking Toney back on his heels with a right hand. However, Toney controlled most of the round with his jab and fired back at the end of the round when Peter tried to swarm him along the ropes.

Toney easily took the 11th round, landing one-twos down the pike, but appeared to take his foot off the gas pedal in the 12th round, perhaps believing, like most of the crowd in the arena, that he had done enough to earn a decision. Peter stalked Toney for the entire final round, landing a few right hands and body shots; taking the 12th on three judges’ scorecards

“I want Oleg,” Peter said after the bout, referring to Oleg Maskaev, the WBC title holder.

In response to Toney, the mandatory challenger for the WBC title had this say:

“He never hurt me. I am solid like a rock.

“My plan was to stick to my jab, and though he picked a few off, it worked. None of the trash talk leading to this fight bothered me.”

That might be true, but Peter and his handlers – manager Ivalo Gotzev and promoter Dino Duva – can expect a lot more trash talk from Toney and his fans in the days and weeks following tonight’s good fight and unpopular decision.

“I’m not done,” said Toney. “I’m not fat and I’m not out of shape like Larry Holmes.”

Well, at least he’s half right.

In the co-featured bout, Gilroy, California’s Robert Guerrero won the IBF featherweight title with an eight-round bludgeoning of Washington, DC’s Erik Aiken. Guerrero, who improved his record to 19-1-1 (12), employed rough and aggressive tactics from the opening bell, pressing the inexperienced title holder to the ropes and mauling him for most of every round.

By the fifth round, Aiken, who was able to land hard single hooks and crosses in the early part of the fight, was reduced to covering up with his back to the ropes, where his body was brutally pounded by Guerrero. By the end of the sixth round, Aiken’s left eye was badly swollen. In-between rounds six and seven, the journeyman-turned-title holder gained a few extra seconds of recovery time when a tear in Guerrero’s left glove stopped the official clock while a replacement glove was quickly put on.

Aiken started the seventh round strong, trying desperately to turn things around, but he soon settled back into his defensive shell by the middle of the round when a determined Guerrero answered his mini-rally. In the eighth round, Aiken was penalized one point by referee Tony Crebs for “excessive holding” and then proceeded to eat a number of accurate uppercuts from Guerrero who shrugged off Aiken’s best counter right crosses. Aiken had the look of a beaten fighter as he walked back to his corner and his trainers, Adrian Davis and Jerry Paige, could clearly see this. The veteran trainers did the right thing by signaling to Crebs that their fighter had had enough. The fight was stopped before the ninth round began.

“His hand was hurting and it did not look like he was going to turn it around,” said Paige. “He was taking a beating out there, so we stopped it.”

At the time of the stoppage, Guerrero was ahead on all three scorecards, 79-72 and 80-71 (twice).

“Everything Guerrero was doing affected me,” said the honest and likeable Aiken, now 16-5 (12). “I broke my right hand. I am not taking anything away from him. All glory to him.”

Guerrero gave all his glory to his Higher Power.

“It was God’s plan for me to be a world champion,” said the 23-year-old southpaw. “I was in control of the fight the whole time.”

[kingofkings13]

Toney was robbed. i had it 115-113 for Toney. I wanna know what fight the judge that scored it 116-111 for Peter saw.