Vitali Klitschko reclaimed the WBC belt and fulfilled his dream to hold a heavyweight title at the same time as his brother, stopping Samuel Peter with a technical knockout on Saturday night.
Peter chose not to come back out after eight rounds that saw him weaving and occasionally wobbling as Klitschko landed a persistent stream of heavy jabs to his head in front of more than 12,000 people at the new O2 World Arena in Berlin. Peter kept a tight defensive stance and managed to plant a series of solid body shots on his towering opponent. But after eight rounds he hadn't worked consistently inside Klitschko's massive reach.
Klitschko told reporters after the fight that he wouldn't have needed much longer to deliver on his promise to end the fight by knockout. "If Samuel Peter didn't stop the fight, I have the feeling in the next two rounds, I would have knocked him out," Klitschko said. "He got more and more punches, and his chin [was] not so strong as the first rounds."
Klitschko has been WBC "champion emeritus" since a knee injury forced him to withdraw from a fight and retire from boxing in 2005. The honorary status gave him the right to fight Peter, who won the interim belt in a fight against Jameel McCline last September, whenever he chose to come out of retirement.
"I knew if I lost the fight I wouldn't get a second chance," Klitschko said after the fight. "It was a one-way ticket, and I used my chance."
Klitschko originally won the WBC title in 2004 with an eight-round victory over Corrie Sanders and last night's fight was his first since he defended the crown with an eighth-round win over Danny Williams in Las Vegas in 2004.
Klitschko's performances as a powerful puncher have often been overshadowed by injury. In 2005, he withdrew from a WBC title fight with Hasim Rahman because of a torn ligament in his right knee, an injury that led to his retirement. Last August he announced a comeback fight against Jameel McCline, only to back out after hurting his back and undergoing emergency surgery.
After the fight Klitschko joked about a hypothetical matchup with his brother, a scenario which both have said is out of the question. Wladimir Klitschko, widely considered the most talented among the chaotic field of so-called heavyweight champions, holds the IBF and WBO heavyweight belts and dealt Peter his only previous loss, in September 2005 in a 12-round unanimous decision.
"You know what? I like this belt very much," Vitali quipped as he picked up one of the three title belts Wladimir had brought with him to the press conference, where he sat beside Vitali. "Watch yourself now, brother," Wladimir shot back.
