12.10.08 – By Paul Strauss: This was one night when “Two + Two is actually One Sided”. Vitali Klitschko fought tall, like the giant he is. He kept his hands low, especially his left, which enabled him to throw left jabs, hooks, shovel hooks, uppercuts, etc, from many different angles. Samuel Peter remained relatively stationary, which allowed Vitali to take target practice. Every time Peter would tense up to unload, he would find that Vitali had already moved out of range. Or, at other times, when he tried to rush into range, he would run into a Vitali right, plus a few more lefts thrown in for good measure.
It would be accurate to say that Vitali looked very good, especially after such a long lay off, and that Peter looked lethargic and frustrated. Vitali made the fight, and Peter helped him do so by cooperating with Vitali’s game plan. Right from the beginning Peter was rocked, and the process continued with each and every round, so much so that realistically Peter did not win one round..
As the end neared, both of Peter’s eyes were swollen, and it was obvious that he was incapable of mounting any kind of sustainable attack. His head was immobile, his guard dropped, and he was pushing his punches. Vitali was obviously enjoying himself with this sitting duck. Peter wasn’t, so he quit after the eighth round.
During the post-fight interview, Vitali was understandably non-committal about what he thinks is in the future for him. He wants time to enjoy his well earned victory, and compare titles with
his brother Wladimir. It’s seems a sure bet they will not be fighting each other. Vitali & Valuev could grow their own beanstalk, and capture the goose that laid the golden egg. Now wouldn’t it be interesting to see those two giants in the ring. They would need one equally as big as the ring used tonight, in which the Russian Hockey team could have skated.
Dino Duva says it simply wasn’t Peter’s night, and that he will be back. Duva made it sound like Peter’s corner recognized that fact, and that they convinced The Nigerian Nightmare to end the terrible dream. However, I wonder if all the lumps he sustained, coupled with the open scoring might not have been responsible for the shaking of his head side to side and the mumbling that he didn’t want to go on? It will be interesting to see if Peter’s confidence has been shaken after suffering his first stoppage. The old psyche, you know.
The Dawson vs. Tarver fight was not quite has one-sided, but only because Tarver has a better defense that Peter. Plus, Dawson is not a big puncher. However, the volume punching belonged one-sidedly to Dawson. He was just operating in another gear. The only rounds he lost, he probably just gave to Tarver, because he was resting. He is a beautiful fighter, who throws eye-popping combinations. He has a good defense and moves well, but his punches to lack the kind of power that punishes opponents. His punches are more for show, but a good show.
Specifically, after the fight, it was evident Dawson was marked up (not badly mind you), but Tarver was not. The volume of punches thrown and landed by Dawson should have caused more damage. Seemingly, Glen Johnson was able to mount such an effective fight against Dawson, because of that lack of punching power. However, as fans know, speed is many times “just the ticket”. Many great fighters didn’t have and didn’t needed knockout power to win. They kept on winning without it.
Floyd Mayweather, Jr was at ring side, and he was quoted saying he thinks Dawson is now the best P4P fighter. (Does his promotion company have or hope to have Dawson under contract!) Tonight, “Money” was right. Dawson scored a one-sided UD over Tarver.
Tarver might have came away with a couple of rounds, but that only seemed to be, because Dawson was taking a breather. Tarver was winning the eleventh, but suffered a flash knockdown, as the result of being off-balance just as he got caught a glancing right hook off the side of his head. Tarver argued it was not a knockdown, but referee Jay Nady explained his glove(s) touched the canvas, so he had no choice. So, that turned the round in favor of Dawson.
In between the eleventh and twelfth, trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad told Tarver he needed a knockout to win. Tarver understood, and tried to mount an attack, but there was that “speed thing” rearing its ugly head again. Tarver just could not match Dawson’s speed; nor, could he properly time Dawson’s punches to set up a counter. The one-sided loss might be his last big payday!