13.07.06 – By Colin Shields: Ok, everyone (including me) is excited about the upcoming showdown between Samuel ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Peter (26-1 22ko’s) and James ‘Lights Out’ Toney (69-4 43ko’s). What I want to know, though is whether this will shed any light on the current heavyweight fiasco?
The answer, quite simply is no. Neither man, in my opinion, is a potential world champion right now. Sam Peter was exposed as a one dimensional punch bag by Wladimir Klitschko. I was as vocal as the next man hoping he would emerge as the next dominant heavyweight. Sadly, it was not to happen. My faith was misplaced, as it has been in the past and will probably be in the future. Thus is the fate of most boxing fans. Toney is a middleweight cum heavyweight who, in all honesty, doesn’t belong in the division. Toney is an extremely skilled fighter, who should be first ballot hall of fame. However, in my (humble) opinion, he is damaging his legacy by entering his recent fights at the unfit, not to mention unhealthy weight of approx 240lbs.
Personally, I think Toney is negating all that made him a pound for pound kingpin in his day, namely his speed and mobility. Granted, he still has his in-fighting and promotional ability but only until he gets tired, in which case he resorts to avoiding flak and scoring little.
I’m not a Klitschko lover or hater, yet I believe that our only chance of a dominant heavy is Wladimir. He has speed, (to some extent) power and skills. His fragile chin, I thought would endear him to the masses, as the casual fan likes the chance of a knockout at any point of the fight. With his tendency to panic and his interesting 44-3 41 KO record, he should be a crowd pleaser. However, I didn’t bank on the casual fans expectancy of the Rocky film scenario where they need underdog and drama.
For clarification, I advise to look towards the Briggs-Klitschko fight, as opposed to the Toney-Peter attraction. The winner of Toney-Peter might unearth a contender but Klitschko-Briggs may just exhibit a dominant champion.
Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if Briggs upset the pundits…