I was shocked to see how many people actually thought Oleg Maskaev was going to beat Samuel Peter. Naturally, the doubts about Peter came from the McCline fight but I was still surprised to see knowledgable boxing fans (supposedly anyway) picking Maskaev to stop Peter. I never had any doubt about the outcome of that fight and I figured that most people would have felt the same. Granted, it's a few months too late to start an "I told u so" thread but I just wanted to address the fact that alot of people picked Maskaev to win without any basis for doing so and were never really called out on it because Peter doesn't seem to have many supporters on this message board. I'm just curious as to why people picked Maskaev. The damage in the McCline fight started with a push and an uppercut. Everything else just stemmed from that. Wladimir Klitschko hurt Peter with a left hook and though Maskaev added a left hook to his arsenal it was nowhere near as potent as Wladimir's. Basically, all Maskaev had was his right hand and Peter walks through those. Throw in the fact that Maskaev had been stopped 5 times and you've got all signs pointing to a Peter KO, which is exactly what happened. How could people have thought Maskaev would win?
I was one that thought Maskaev had a decent chance of winning the fight against Peter, simply for the fact that Maskaev has a lot of heart. He showed a very good left hook against Rahman, and an ability to fight on the inside. Peter is only effective if he keeps fighters on the end of his punches. This is why he had problems against Robert Hawkins, a predominantly inside fighter.
Ok. A choice based on an intangible. You have to keep in mind that Maskaev had Rahman's number though. Cooney's former team paved a nice safe path for Maskaev to get another title shot and one has to believe that Maskaev was thrilled to get the chance against a guy he had starched 6 years prior. Peter went to boxing school against Wladimir Klitschko and James Toney so if anything, he would have been more adept at learning to keep fighters at the end of his punches. McCline lost because Peter outboxed him down the stretch but that fact was obscured by the 3 knockdowns. Peter shows another dimension in his repertoire (not to mention tremendous heart) and all he gets is flack for the knockdowns and a shaky chin label with no basis. You don't walk through Wladimir Klitschko right hands for 12 rounds and have a shaky chin. Maskaev's one weapon may as well have been his left hook and not the right hand cuz Peter is not fazed by that punch.
I agree that most who gave Maskaev a chance put too much credence in the fight versus Rahman. I don't think anyone anticipated the big O looking that old. It seemed as if he were already looking for excuses after he noticed the difference in speed, i.e. the blows to the back of the head.
Yeah, I too found it pretty surprising that so many people thought Maskaev would beat Peter. Sure, Peter had had a little hiccup against McCline, but he had shown solid whiskers otherwise. Maskaev, on the other hand, had a shaky chin when he was young and had been knocked out many times. Peter was in the prime of his career, and Maskaev was clearly past whatever prime he had had. This one was, to me, a no brainer.
I think there are alot of people who dislike Peter because of his punching behind the head so combined with the feel-good Maskaev championship run after he was considered by most to be done it's not surprising that people would want Maskaev to win. However, to actually think that he would win is an entirely different story. Maskaev's only chance was the right hand, which Peter seems impervious to. A sneak left hook maybe? Peter showed the ability to fight back from adversity anyway and as you pointed out, Maskaev's chin isn't that dependable. Where's the logic in picking Maskaev other than the remote possibility of an upset which exists in any sport?
I thought that Maskaev would be able to execute that left hook on the inside. If you notice, the left hook is what rocked him in the Wlad fight. I think Peter looks for the straight right hand in most fights. McCline was able to hurt him with an uppercut initially, and a left hook later in the third round.
There was sound logic to pick Maskaev. In addition, don't forget Maskaev had Peter rattled in the fight. Either way, by far Peter's best win to date and his only knockout of a live body. The outcome was the best for the division.
Peter was off balance. Maskaev never rattled him. Maskaev hit Peter with some heavy shots and Peter didn't so much as blink.