Sam Peter : Could he have picked up a belt in the 80's?

Peter was durable, and hit hard. Of course he could pick up a belt in the 80s. He has the HW x factors. He wouldnt keep it long but of course he could win one, its not like the 80s ABC titlists set some gold standard.

 

Reminded of the existence of this thread when a recent assertion was made that the Sam Peter of 2008 (the one who lost to Vitali) would have beaten the respective versions of Berbick, Thomas, Tucker, Holmes and Spinks that lost to Mike Tyson.

Had Sam Peter been competing in the mid-to-late '80s, would he have been the best opponent Tyson faced, circa '86-'88?


Peter, having come off a rematch win against Toney (38-year-old former MW, weighing the best part of 17st.), in 2007, then went on to overcome a few KD's against an unranked and aging (37) Jameel McCline, that same year.

He would then get to fight his intended target, Maskaev, in March, 2008. Maskaev was 39 years old and, despite Peter winning the title, it was an unimpressive showing from both fighters; fought at a glacial pace, with Peter showing signs of getting winded by round 3.

Vitali's comeback against Peter for his recently won WBC strap saw VK (37) an odds-on favorite. And, in another less than inspiring display, Peter lost the title; retiring at the end of Round-8.

Peter's next opponent, in early 2009, was Chambers (aged 27), who was the first fighter in his prime that Peter had faced in three years. Chambers was a bit of a slickster - relatively small in stature and generally seen competing between 208 to 220 pounds. His biggest flaw, in my opinion, was his low work rate and tendency to take time off during a fight.

Peter, despite being roughly a stone heavier than usual, looked more energetic than he'd been in his last couple of outings and took it to Chambers where he could - perhaps encouraged by having a smaller, low-powered opponent in front of him. Nonetheless, Chambers needed to only maintain distance and fight in spurts, with swift, straight punches down the middle, to effectively mug Peter and take the decision.

Not one of his performances - prior to, during or post-2008 - were impressive enough (both in terms of who he was fighting or how he looked) to have me believe Peter was capable of beating the prime contenders and Titlists of the '80s.

Thomas, Tucker, Holmes and Spinks were considerably more skilled than him. Even Berbick had superior skills to those of the limited Peter who, regardless of improvements he made to his game, remained stiff as a board, slow of both hand and foot and was all too easy to outmaneuver.

 

Sam Peter was Trevor Berbick with a much better punch.

 

I don't think Peter goes the 15-round distance with a prime Holmes.

I'd also say that Peter's punch power is vastly overrated.

 

Berbick was fast and well conditioned. . The antithesis to Sam Peters

 

He'd have a chance against Berbick and Bonecrusher. I think he would lose to the rest. He'd get absolutely schooled by Tubbs and Tate.

 

No

 

Berbick was tired by the mid rounds with an ancient Ali. If Ali equally wasn't as tired he probably would have beaten Berbick that night.

 

Holmes didn't take Berbick seriously yet still managed to win every round.

 

Berbick was not as equally as tired as Ali.. Berbick turned up the heat in the later rounds while Ali was completely spent. Berbick brought pressure to Holmes for 15 rounds. Peter would be blowing out his ass after 3-4 round of limited activity. . He was one of the worst conditioned HWs of all time. He bares no resemblance at all to Trevor Bervick.

 

Berbick was allowed to get rest because Ali could not follow up on the punches.

 

Are you trying to tell me that Peter was better conditioned than Berbick?

 

About equal

 

That's not really changing my mind about whether or not I think Peter could go 15 with Holmes. Or beat Page; or beat Thomas.

And then of course, there's Holmes' own take on the fight:

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Peter just isn't in that league.

 

In what Peter fights did he prove to have equal conditioning , workrate and footspeed to Berbick? A supposed in-shape Peter had conditioning as bad as overweight late-sub McCline.
He was blowing hard after the 3rd round against Oleg who had no legs. He could barely outwork and out maneuver James Toney.
Berbick was a combination puncher with moderate footspeed. He was always working in some capacity.. . No Peter would ever be able to pressure a PRIME Larry Holmes for 15 rounds.