It’s 2 years and 3 months since former WBC heavyweight champion Sam Peter was last in the ring with an opponent of any credibility, and on that night, The Nigerian nightmare was retired at the end of three very tame rounds with a questionable elbow injury against the very capable Kubrat Pulev, weighing a whopping 271 pounds.. This appeared at the time to signify the conclusion of Peter’s quite decorated 15 year career.. It appears not..
At 36-6 (29 Ko’s) Samuel embarked on a low key return to the ring 4 weeks ago, disposing of a grossly overmatched Gerardo Escobar 2-21, in a single round, south of the border in a curiously named venue called the Cheers Bar, in Tijuana Mexico, a country in which Peter has appeared on 4 different occasions.. For the Escobar fight, Samuel came in at 262, a small shred of evidence that he may be taking a return to the ring a little more seriously than his trip to Sofia in 2016..
Paired with Sams recent signing to Saleta promotions, the 38 Year old once managed by Ivaylo Gotziev (Pulev’s current agent) is set to return again, as soon as April 13th on the Claressa Shields-Christina Hammer undercard in Atlantic City, against one Mario Heredia a 26 year old, 5 foot 11, 15-6-1 (13 Ko’s) resident of Chihuahua Mexico, with no noted killers on his resume.. The allowance of such opponents is justified in Samuels case, as long as he is kept busy and fights himself into shape, you may see some of the flashes that once made him one of the most feared men in the division..
I was around Sammy throughout his prime years, and even drove him to his first sparring session with Wladimir Klitschko, years before they actually fought for real.. Peter was a laid back character with some lackadaisical tendencies, but once under the lights turned into a beast.. By 2005, Peter had compiled a record of 24-0 (21 Ko’s) and had captured the NABA, NABF and USBA titles, before being thrust into the biggest fight of his life with former Champion, Wladimir Klitschko.. On that night Peter was unfazed and aggressively took the fight to Wladimir.. Sam broke through in round 5 scoring 2 scrappy knockdowns, but struggled to control the fight, due to Klitschko’s solid ring generalship, Sammy persisted with the task and scored a 3rd knockdown in the tenth, but once again failed to capitalise on the momentum. Heading to the scorecards, Wladimir hurt Sam in the final round and secured a unanimous points victory that would eventually lead to him regaining the title a year later..
Following the loss, Samuel compiled a 5 fight winning streak, including two decisions over James Toney and a life and death last minute affair with Jameel McCline at the Garden, before making his first proper challenge for the world championship, fighting WBC Champion Oleg Maskaev in Mexico in 2008.. Peter dominated Oleg before stopping him in round 6, picking up the championship that had eluded a string of Nigerian contenders for over a decade.. Unfortunately this was possibly the final live winning performance of Samuels better years, losses to both Vitali and Wladimir would follow, along with a tediously dull points defeat to Eddie Chambers and finally a disturbingly brutal knockout loss at the hands of Robert Helenius in 2011..
So here we are in 2019, with the unlikely yet very real prospect of Samuel returning to the ring a distinct reality.. Over the next couple of years I’m not expecting to see Peter rapidly slide up the rankings to a point of serious contention, but I am hoping that it’s Sams way of getting the sport out of his system after such a fragmented career, but to be honest, if he never fights again, from humble beginnings, he’s got an awful lot to be proud of..
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