Sam Peter is the most over-f**kin-rated heavyweight in the world right now.

I agree. I think that Peter is a very good heavyweight but I think people are way overrating him. McCline is a big man with a decent jab and has an excellent chance of beating Peter. Who looks very slow and lethargic at times.

 

Simply untrue.

John Ruiz was not at the peak of his game (if you want to call it that) when Tua knocked him out.

Nor was Hasim Rahman, who btw caught a punch after the bell to be knocked out.

Oleg Maskaev was 10-1 when he stepped into the ring with David Tua. These guys at the time were all unpolished, which gives a healthy advantage to the power puncher.

Tua has not any accomplishments at the top 5 level. He was thouroughly embarrassed by Lewis and Byrd. At least Sam Peter held his own with the consensus #1 guy, Waldo.

The biggest fallacy on this board is that Tua was somehow better than Samuel Peter. It's a joke. Guys like Yanqui Diaz and Jeremy Williams and Taurus Sykes hold their own with the Darroll Wilsons of the world.

I'd say that his shining performance was the disputed loss to Ike Ibeabuchi. That was his moment in the sun really. And Sam Peter's was losing to Waldo. A fight where he was in with a gold medalist who had a massive size advantage and skill advantage.

At this point Sam Peter has proven just as much as a young David Tua, if not more. Give him a few defenses of that title and he will surpass anything Tua accomplished as a professional.

 

If he is overrated, how come nobody shows up in short notice to fight him for a World HWT Title? Vitaly never intented to fight him but Oleg or McCline, Oleg himself follows Vitaly to the Hospital treatment and everybody wanted a piece of Big O's, even old-timers such as Tim Witherspoon, Axel Shultz, Corrie Sanders and Oliver McCall would come back from long lay-offs for that matter... Sam Peter is not just "The Nigerian Nightmare", he's everybody's nightmare or so it seems... That and other should provide proof and enough evidence to support Peter's legit top contendership and I don't even like to see him fight...

 

Prime Byrd dominates him :yep

 

I certainly am not bashing Peter but i just think his weight will be his downfall. We will see:yep

 

I agree Peter is overrated and certainly not the second best heavywheight out there.

Wlad, Vitali, Chagaev would certainly beat him.

After that there are a group of guys who are all about the same level, when in shape, being able to beat each other depending on the moment and luck, even capable of beating the top three above on a good night. They are:
Ibragimov
Peter
Valuev
Maskaev
Thompson
Virchis
Gomez
Byrd
Ruiz
Dimitrenko
Brewster
Liakhovich
Rahman
McCall (a little too old, but still capable)
Povetkin (unproven, but should be part of this group already)
Tua

 

There's very little evidence that Peter wouldn't destroy this version of Tua, who is a C-level fighter. I agree, however, that he probably loses to Wlad, Chagaev and Valuev, unless he's continued to improve. There are a lot of B-level fighters who I think would give him trouble as well.

I could see the argument for him being second, but even as such, he's extremely overrated. There's a bigger gap between first in HW and 2nd in HW than there is between 2nd in HW and 30th in HW, and most people seem to forget about that when rating Peter.

 

Yeah, but if he had been fighting when prime Byrd was in full effect, he'd barely be a top 10 guy. Lewis, Vitali, Byrd, Ruiz, Tua, Rahman, Wlad, and possibly Oquendo and even Tyson would be ahead of him.

 

Everything you have stated is a bit of stretch. You disparage Tua's name fighters - but don't replace them with an equivalent for Peter.

You name Tuas B level fighters, and pair them with Peters. Fair enough. but that still doesn't add anyone to replace the guys you drop off the list.

what about Fres? What about Moorer (altho old at the time)?

I have never said guys were at their peak when Tua fought them. So what? the fact is they were, on the whole, on the way up, like Tua was. And that's proved to be the case.


Peters past opponents aren't on the way up. They are what they are. Guys that earn a living by being B sides to young fighters. The guys Tua fought came in to win against him. Can't say the same for the guys Peter has fought.

And lastly - you'd better believe that if Tua put Waldo on the canvas 3 times, he wouldn't be getting back up.

 

we'll see how "Overrated" he is when after he lays out Wladamir Klitschko in the beginning of 2008. Trust me... it's coming. :yep

 

And why is this relevant when discussing the current state of the heavyweight division and analyzing how Peter would do against the guys now?

 

He wont fight Wladimir in 2008....he's busy with Oleg Maskaev, Vitali Klitschko, and Oliver McCall. And in early 2008, Wladimir will probably be preparing to face off against either Byrd, Brock, Chambers, or Povetkin.

 

My point is despite Tua's early record Sam Peter has performed much better at the top level.

He has a close loss to the consensus #1 (which Tua could not accomplish) and he has 2 wins over a guy who could not be seen any lower than top 10.

So the guys Tua beat very early on went on to win titles. That doesn't mean they were polished champions when he beat them. In the rematch with Rahman it was apparent that Rahman had gotten better, whereas Tua was still Tua.

The guy never progressed. Hard punchers on the general level do very well moving up the ranks, until the other guys start getting more experienced. Then it becomes something else.

Regardless of what the haters on this site think, Sam Peter had his coming out party against James Toney. He easily decisioned a man that John Ruiz or Hasim Rahman didn't.

And to Ruskull: I seen some of that Toney-Batchelder fight. Batchelder was not robbed. He ran from Toney all night and played defense. Toney clearly won.