Peter dominates Toney, earns shot at WBC heavyweight title
January 7, 2007
HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA (TICKER) -- Samuel Peter left no doubt this time around.
Peter started quickly and battered James Toney throughout, scoring a unanimous 12-round decision in a heavyweight title elimination fight Saturday night.
Showing remarkable movement, Peter (28-1, 22 KOs) earned a title shot against WBC champion Oleg Maskaev as he controlled the rematch with Toney, who complained long and loud after dropping a split decision in their previous bout.
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At the final bell, Peter did a little victory dance in the ring as Toney - his left eye partially swollen shut - just pawed a glove toward him in disgust.
"This was my best fight," the 25-year-old Peter said. "I trained hard for this fight."
The judges' scorecards were 119-108 and a pair at 118-110 for Peter, known as "The Nigerian Nightmare." He was was warned twice for hitting Toney in the back of the head but did not lose a point as he did in the first fight just over four months ago. Toney grumbled about that decision but could say nothing after this one. He showed very little energy and was knocked down for the first time since 1994 against Roy Jones.
"He didn't knock me down," said Toney, severely slurring his words. "I slipped."
Peter staggered Toney just past the midway point of the first round, then was warned for hitting in the back of the head. In the second, Peter connected with a straight left that put Toney (69-6-3) on his rump.
The 38-year-old Toney rallied a bit in an action-filled fourth round but had little else. Peter kept finishing rounds with flurries that swayed the judges and had Toney wearing a beaten look.
In the 11th, Peter struck again with a big right hand that had Toney reeling. He kept his feet but offered nothing in return the remainder of the bout.
A former IBF middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champion, Toney has lost two straight fights after going nearly nine years without a setback. He beat John Ruiz for the WBA title in 2005 but had to relinquish the championship after testing positive for steroids.
On the undercard, unbeaten Travis Simms used a relentless left hand to score a ninth-round technical knockout of Jose Antonio Rivera and capture the WBA junior middleweight title.
"I cannot be denied," Simms said. "I stayed in the gym, stayed diligent, stayed focused."
Alternating lead hands throughout, Simms (25-0, 19 KOs) battered and bloodied Rivera (38-5-1) and was ahead on all three scorecards entering the ninth round, when he dropped the champion with a straight left hand.
Rivera sat on the canvas and regrouped, beating the count. But he was drilled with a left hook and a straight right before the bout was stopped at the two-minute mark.
"I told the ref, 'As long as I'm standing, don't stop the fight,'" Rivera said.
January 7, 2007
HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA (TICKER) -- Samuel Peter left no doubt this time around.
Peter started quickly and battered James Toney throughout, scoring a unanimous 12-round decision in a heavyweight title elimination fight Saturday night.
Showing remarkable movement, Peter (28-1, 22 KOs) earned a title shot against WBC champion Oleg Maskaev as he controlled the rematch with Toney, who complained long and loud after dropping a split decision in their previous bout.
ADVERTISEMENT
At the final bell, Peter did a little victory dance in the ring as Toney - his left eye partially swollen shut - just pawed a glove toward him in disgust.
"This was my best fight," the 25-year-old Peter said. "I trained hard for this fight."
The judges' scorecards were 119-108 and a pair at 118-110 for Peter, known as "The Nigerian Nightmare." He was was warned twice for hitting Toney in the back of the head but did not lose a point as he did in the first fight just over four months ago. Toney grumbled about that decision but could say nothing after this one. He showed very little energy and was knocked down for the first time since 1994 against Roy Jones.
"He didn't knock me down," said Toney, severely slurring his words. "I slipped."
Peter staggered Toney just past the midway point of the first round, then was warned for hitting in the back of the head. In the second, Peter connected with a straight left that put Toney (69-6-3) on his rump.
The 38-year-old Toney rallied a bit in an action-filled fourth round but had little else. Peter kept finishing rounds with flurries that swayed the judges and had Toney wearing a beaten look.
In the 11th, Peter struck again with a big right hand that had Toney reeling. He kept his feet but offered nothing in return the remainder of the bout.
A former IBF middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champion, Toney has lost two straight fights after going nearly nine years without a setback. He beat John Ruiz for the WBA title in 2005 but had to relinquish the championship after testing positive for steroids.
On the undercard, unbeaten Travis Simms used a relentless left hand to score a ninth-round technical knockout of Jose Antonio Rivera and capture the WBA junior middleweight title.
"I cannot be denied," Simms said. "I stayed in the gym, stayed diligent, stayed focused."
Alternating lead hands throughout, Simms (25-0, 19 KOs) battered and bloodied Rivera (38-5-1) and was ahead on all three scorecards entering the ninth round, when he dropped the champion with a straight left hand.
Rivera sat on the canvas and regrouped, beating the count. But he was drilled with a left hook and a straight right before the bout was stopped at the two-minute mark.
"I told the ref, 'As long as I'm standing, don't stop the fight,'" Rivera said.
