At least for six rounds, until age betrayed him. Whatever other conclusions are being drawn, let's not lose sight of the fact that this guy gave 110% and really outperformed himself. Sure, he was unable to capitalize on having Peter dead in the water. Sure, he visibly gassed and had begun to acknowledge his own defeat around the 7th. If nothing else though, tonight he made a fan of one IntentionalButt. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a big Peter supporter. But this was the 2nd toughest fight of Peter's life, and I give him a ton of credit for this win. Not because Jameel is a major factor or worth a lot of stock in the HW division, but because he is a huge, strong guy with decent skill and a good chin who came at Peter full throttle and nearly stopped him, marrying power and pressure with some damn pretty (for a big clunky heavyweight) jab-centric boxing through the first half. Jameel proved tonight that with a concerted effort he can be pretty damn good - and Peter tonight got to add to his resume a win over an opponent who showed up as a pretty damn good one. In other words I don't want to hear "Oh, whatever, Peter beat a bum" - and it already seems there's a bit of that brewing. At least on this one night, Jameel McCline can not be said to have been anything less than a very credible and live contender. I wanted to see Peter starched more than anyone, but I am above all else an honest fan and student of the game, so I'll be the first to call anyone on their bull**** for saying this was not a creditable and impressive victory. In a rematch I would not pick against McCline.
All of what you said is respectable, but when you consider how Peter was built up, and how he was supposed to be perceived, then no.. this was not an impressive performance. McCline is a solid gatekeeper, and anyone who didn't expect McCline to put up a good fight obviously doesn't pay much attention to the HWs.
