Shrug. You'll be back on the bandwagon when Sam starches him. Unlike McCline, Maskaev is not a giant guy and has been decked and knocked out in the majority of his losses. I think Maskaev gets it now that Sam Peter is not gonna go away. And if he thinks he's gonna do what McCline did he's gonna be in for a real rude awakening.
Exactly. Despite his performance in the McCline fight, Oleg, with his glass jaw, is tailor-made for Peter to score an impressive KO. I expect something along the lines of the Jeremy Williams fight - another classic glass-jawed fighter - after which all but the diehard haters will pile back on the Peter bandwagon.
While Zakman is the chin checker of the board, the knock out does not always come. Peter does not have a KO win past round seven, and tends to go the distance vs the best fighters he has fought. I just cant pick him via early knockout vs a good fighter. It is very possible that Oleg can pull off a technical performance as he did vs a Sinan Sam and win the fight on points. Maskev has won 12 fights in a row with no durability issues. I beleive the McCline fight has exposed Peter. When a puncher losses his aura of industrictibility, other fighters no longer fear him as they once did. Maskev hits harder than MCcline. He can win via KO too. And speaking of McCline, he has a point that the referee might have saved Peter with a long count / pause before signaling McCline out of the neutral corner. The two main questions to me are, 1 ) How's Peter confidence, and 2 ) Did old age finally catch up to Maskev or not? Right now it is hard to pick a winner here.
oleg will ko vitlay if they ever fight, vitlay and wald are both avoiding oleg because of how maskaev made vitlay his 'sooka' in the amateurs.
The idea that anybody is "avoiding" glass-jawed Oleg is absurd. In fact, they're lining up for the opportunity of knocking him the f*ck out - just like those thunderous punchers Kirk Johnson, Lance Whitaker and Corey Sanders did!
This quote really highlights where Sam Peter gets overlooked by people. Only two guys have ever done well on points against him. One was a defensive master who is much smaller and faster. The other is a giant who jabs and grabs over the course of 12 rounds. Clearly Oleg is not James Toney. He won't be rolling with punches or giving his back to Sam Peter. He may pull a Waldo and clinch like hell but he'll be right in range for the Sam Peter jab. Now Maskaev *MAY* make it the full 12 but I for one will be surprised. Likely however the older heavyweight has alot of issues with Sam Peter's jab and right hand. Hell even McCline who leaned in and grabbed all night ate some right hands off the ropes. As well as jab after jab.
Peter TKO5 Maskaev I'm a bit disappointed as well regarding Peter's last performance. But only in the sense than his chin looked less than solid. He was knocked down 3 times and hurt on a few other occasions. It looked like he had a Ray Mercer chin in the Klitschko fight, but in the McCline fight, it looked like he had the chin of Hasim Rahman. With that said, Samuel did show improvement. In what? His jab first of all. It was very snappy and hard. It found the mark time and time again and kept McCline going back. His outside game has improved greatly. Secondly, Peter showed that he is a very good body puncher. He would throw combinations to the body, work the body well on the inside, and even throw a double left hook to the body and then to the head. Thirdly, Samuel, at times, fought like a small man should against a big man. He got low and slipped some punches, using a jab to find his way inside. He didn't do this all the time, but he showed some flashes of it. Samuel's speed also looked decent and improved as did his defense from round 4 onward. He straightened up his punches, threw some nice uppercuts, and displayed a very solid counter right hand. What may be most important though is that he showed he has real heart and real toughness. He was able to survive, keep his composure, and outwork and outfight McCline when it mattered most. I'd like to see him drop 5 or 6 more pounds to increase his speed, improve his footwork, get his body into punches more, and improve his defense. Despite getting knocked down 3 times, Samuel would be a threat to anybody in the division right now. He is a top heavyweight and not the lumbering, uncoordinated, unskilled slugger that many say he is. I've noticed that a lot of people's dislike for him prevents them from looking at him and analyzing him objectively.
Good response. :good I, too now question how damaging this McCline fiasco was to Peter's own confidence,as well as how other fighters will now no longer fear him, as they apparently once did. Maskaev is no pushover, as some seem to say he is, and after riding the wave of beating Rahman for the second time, and has been on a long winning streak, I think he'll be full of confidence and will put on a great performance and will outbox Peter and possibly TKO him late. Maskaev also has very underrated KO power; Maskaev can crack, and I think he is probably eager to get in there and show that McCline is not the only one who can put Peter's on the canvas with an uppercut. Maskeav by either decision, or late TKO. :good
I want Maskaev to win, but Peter will stay with the W. Maskaev is physically totally different to McCline, and his style and chin are also factors to consider. Peter will work on his defense to avoid getting knockdowned.
As Zackman pointed out, Maskaev is tailor-made for Peter. Watch the punch Rahman caught Maskaev the most with, the jab and especially the overhand/looping righthand, one of Peters most effective and powerful punches. I agree Rahman has a better jab than Peter, but Peters overhand right will land, look for that too be the equalizer in this fight. After Peters last performance I give Maskaev a chance of winning, but it wont be easy, he better ready to bite down hard on his mouthpiece and expect to get hit. Peter wins this fight 3rd round knockout, this will be the fight that shows off Peters power.