Samuel Peter v Jameel McCline
Samuel Peter v Jameel McCline
Peter, from Nigeria, was knocked down at the end of the second round and twice during the third by Florida-based New Yorker McCline but gradually edged his way back into the fight to take a unanimous decision after 12 rounds of championship boxing.
Peter, 27, had been handed the interim title when reigning belt holder Oleg Maskaev pulled out of his title defence against the Nigerian with a back injury on September 24. That paved the way for McCline, who was taken out of an undercard fight with DaVarryl Williamson and put in against Peter, the big-punching African with a 28-1, 22-knockout professional record, the only loss of his career coming in an unanimous decision defeat to Wladimir Klitschko in 2005, despite having floored the Ukranian three times during the fight.
This time it was Peter who would have to come from behind to steal the glory.
McCline, 38-7-3 coming into the fight, had entered the ring with the minimum of fuss, even foregoing the usual musical fanfare to slip quietly inside the ropes on what was a low-key night with a disappointing crowd of just 7,102 in a 14,000-seat arena.
But there was little disguising his intent as the second round came to a close, the American ducking under a Peter right hook and bouncing straight back up with a right of his own to the interim champion’s stomach that sent him to the canvas as the bell went.
Peter was soon reeling again as the third got under way with McCline pouncing on the Nigerian from the bell, flooring him twice during the round and keeping up the pressure as Peter struggled to stay in the fight.
Peter did more than hang in, though, surviving the round and regrouping over the next four as McCline failed to maintain his intensity, resorting to intermittent flurries of activity while Peter picked the American off with sporadic left jabs and occasionally, as in the 10th round, with a clubbing right that had McCline reaching out to hold onto his rival and kill some time.
The 11th round also proved ominous for McCline, who was caught clean on the chin with a vicious left at the end of a bombardment from Peter, the punch, right on the bell, rocking his head back as he leaned against the ropes.
Peter came out stronger and more aggressive than the American for the final round, sensing the victory was his for the taking and throwing out those left jabs time after time while 37-year-old McCline was content to spoil, looking to tie his man up by holding whenever the fighters got close in.
Ultimately, it went to the scorecards to decide the contest and for McCline it was to be another bitter disappointment on the biggest stage.
This was his fourth title shot, having been stopped in the 10th round by Wladimir Klitschko in 2002, narrowly beaten on a split decision by Chris Byrd in 2004 and forced to abandon his third bid
against Nikolay Valuev in January this year when he ruptured a patella tendon.
And his scheduled fight against Vitali Klitschko last month in Munich also came unstuck when the Ukrainian withdrew citing a back injury.
