Where would Vitlai Klitschko’s comeback rate if he defeats Sam Peter?

Peter wouldnt be able to put away Patterson quickly, hes just not skillfull enough and his punches are very easy to defend against. Patterson would also find it easy to land on Peter none existant defense

BUT Peter is far bigger, stronger than Patterson which is his equaliser to an extent.

If Patterson looks to box and move he wins a wide UD. If leaps in with left hooks and leaves himself open he may get beat down. However Peter is not a massive puncher, he has had 1 stoppage recently but before that everyone went the distance with him.

 

It would be quite an achievement, but I'd rate it below Foreman's comeback.

First, Foreman got his title shot in the ring, even if his name helped him considerably. He fought more than 20 fights to achieve it, and amongst tomato cans there were also some worthy opponents like Cooper, Rodrigues or Cooney. And he continued to go on with the same determination despite losing to Holyfield and Morrison.

No way his comeback should be even compared to Vitali's - who has a titleshot secured by some legal regulations, without really doing anything other than signing a fight, anytime he wants it... and still can't go through training camp.

 

Thats his excuse he failed a test for steroids being way over the limit. Heres his version of events:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2004/11/02/soboxx02.xml&sSheet=/sport/2004/11/02/ixothspt.html

Just because Vitali passed steroid tests doesnt mean he wasnt on steroids and his injurys are tell tail signs of steroid use. Its pretty easy to pass a steroids test if you know when its coming. You can roid for 3months, stop roiding 3-5 days prior to a fight and test clean. McCline, Golota, Morrison are obvious examples of fighters roiding (Morrison admitting to roiding while he was fighting).

 

It would indeed be impressive, not because Peter is a worthless-abc-illegitimate-nonlinear-corrupt-LARP-pretend-immoral-satanic belt holder, but because Peter is a top contender. Anyone who comes back from a long layoff and beats a top contender in their first comeback fight has accomplished something impressive.

Is it as good as beating a linear or number one boxer? No. Is it indicative of how good a boxer was in their prime? No. Is it something that counts towards a legacy? Most certainly yes.

One mitigating factor is that Peter is tailor-made for Vitali. Could Foreman come back in 1983 to beat Randall Cobb? Probably. Could Ali come back in 1970 to beat Jerry Quarry? He did. Could Tyson come back in 1995 to beat Bruce Seldon? He did as well.

What a win over Peter would confirm- aside from the indisputable fact that Vitali was scared of Rahman and faked being injured due to his cowardice- would be that Vitali was excellent at exposing modern punchers who relied on their bulk and sheer power to compensate for their defensive skill (or lack thereof). I'm not sure what that does for him in regard to head-to-head rankings, if anything, but it does tell you something about most modern heavyweights.

Another thing this fight might tell us is if Peter's Safari punch has any use except knocking out an old Maskaev by repeatedly clubbing the back of his head. If it's useful against anyone, it should be a tall heavyweight who keeps his hands down and his chin out.

 

The Safari Rabbit punch could be effective against Vitali, I think, because he's the one boxer it might connect legally against. As for Vitali's footwork, we'll have to see if he still has it; I consider it doubtful if it'll be better than 50% of what it was in 2004. Also, I think Vitali is at least 6"8 and probably closer to 6"9. He's a big, big guy, especially for someone with 'just' a "79 reach, which is probably why he doesn't get all tangled up in close like so taller boxers.

That's another topic, but what about Jerry Quarry? Peter is yet to score anything like a victory against Ron Lyle or even Mac Foster. His biggest wins (Williams, Toney, McCline and Maskaev) have all been against old boxers who have always been chinny, small, oversized or a combination of the above.

True, but how many have tried? With whom are you comparing Peter with?

 

We will have to see. Even if Vitali could escape out of the arc of Peter's right (and it may well be that he would lean back into it) I am unconvinced that his reflexes will be what they once were, considering both his layoff and his age.

Of course, many boxers have looked many things in training before a fight. Tyson looked brilliant in training before the Lewis fight. I don't think that, presented with an aggressive world class opponent, Vitali (especially after knee surgery) will be what he once was. I also think taller bodies depreciate more quickly, thus 3 1/2 years for Vitali will be maybe as bad as 5 or 6 years for someone with better body proportions.

Vitali has long arms and rounds shoulders, which is why he is so tall yet only in the 240-250 lb range. He looked to be at least 3 inches taller than Lewis, who is at least 6"5. Vitali in 2004 was the tallest world class boxer I've ever seen and was dwarfing Corrie Sanders, who is at least 6"4.

I never said he was. Toney isn't chinny but he is very short for a heavyweight in any era, was very old and battle-worn by the time he fought Peter, and was at least 50 lbs off his optimal boxing weight. He was a fat tub of lard who hadn't done a bit of roadwork for years and could barely move properly due to the tires around his waist.

Not that McCline was knocked out or even down by Peter, whose power is vastly overrated. What McCline was was old (it was 3 years since he faced Byrd and even then he was a veteran) and hugely oversized. McCline has too much bulk and it does horrible things to his finished ability. He'd have KO'd Peter if he had been able to maintain his momentum, but men of that size cannot sustain a pace adequately.

Could one not say, though, that the sole occasion that Peter has stepped up to the Ali/Young/Quarry/Foreman/Cooney level was against Wlad, where he was soundly outboxed and failed to score a single clean knockdown against a boxer with a suspect jaw? No-one ever dominated a prime Lyle in such a fashion.

True, but the point was that Ali could come back to beat a top 10 boxer who was tailor-made for him in his first fight; while Ali was younger than Vitali, but Quarry was a lot better than Peter. I wouldn't be so jealous about Vitali being compared to Ali, if I were a fan.

All true, but don't you agree that it's empty to compare a comeback against a Jack Johnson, a James J. Jefferies, a Larry Holmes, A Mike Tyson or a Gene Tunney with a comeback against a tubby and crude slugger who is tailor-made for the comebacking boxer?

Vitali's comeback is what it is: an impressive ambition and a productive contributor towards his legacy if he wins, but one cannot turn him into an ATG on the basis of it. Now, if he were to comeback and beat Wlad, even if he had plenty of tune-ups, THAT would be enough for him to lay claim to "most shocking greatest heavyweight comeback of all time". Even Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle was picked to win by the best boxing observers, but I doubt anyone would pick Vitali to beat Wlad in 2009.

 

Vitali's track record for pulling out, postponing and cancelling fights is abysmal.

There's something crooked going on with the WBC supporting him to an immediate crack at the title.

Sam Peter's career would be better served fighting Wladimir Klitschko, win, lose or draw. A much better fight for boxing in general.

If I managed Peter I'd avoid signing to "fight" Vitali Klitschko, it's a waste of time.
Vitali's fight with Rahman was postponed/cancelled how many times ? And he did the same against McCline. Last-minute cancellations too. This doesn't help the careers of those "opponents".
I guess Vitali is popular/lucrative fighter, so money might dictate.
But I think it's highly unlikely he will fight again, and, no, I dont think he can be successful.
Then again, Sam Peter's nothing special. I wouldn't be TOO surprised if he lost to a rusty old injury-prone has-been.

It would be an excellent accomplishment from Vitali, but not on a par with Foreman's comeback.

Foreman had a 10-year absence, and was 7-years into his "second career", and was 45, and had been battered by Holyfield and been in war with Alex Stewart, beaten by Tommy Morrison, he was through two times over. He was on his 9th life at least.

Vitali's history of injuries would make the comeback remarkable BUT his history of pulling out because of injury suggests that he'll only fight in 100% condition anyway.

 

It had been 20 years since Foremna lost to Ali when he beat Moorer who had just beat Holyfield (an all time great) and the 90's had much more depth with in the heavyweights. Even if Vitali does come back and beat Peter which will be impressive it in no way compares to Foremans.

 

Even at only 50% Vitali will still KO Peter, but Don King is trying to do all he can to keep this fight from happening, don't think that even King can stop this fight though.

US Boxing media hates Euro fighters to the extreme, all we hear is bad crap out Euro boxers.

 

This is a pretty one sided poll, there should have been an option along the lines of, nothing extraordinary, not even in the same ballpark as Foreman's etc. It was pre-determined for success and sugar coated one way or another right from the start.

 

I'd be surprised if this fight goes through. I just can't see Vitaly staying injury-free long enough to make this bout happen. I hope he doesn't keep Peter tied up for an extended period of time with delays and cancellations and still end up not fighting. That would be a shame.

If the fight does go through I see it as close to an even match. Vitaly, from about 4 years ago, puts a beating on Peter. Now, he's older, been injured more, and hasn't fought in 4 years by the time they do fight.

If Vitaly were to win, it would be his finest hour. I wouldn't say it trumps Foreman-Moorer, but it would be a fine accomplishment. Foreman was and should have been an underdog against Moorer where Vitayl will probably be the favorite or atleast close to even coming into the Peter match.

Accomplishments aside, I think Peter might be a harder nights work than Moorer but Vitaly was better than Foreman in his second career. Foreman was active and healthy where Vitaly is inactive and oft-injured. The obvious factor though is age, Foreman at 45 was something we might never see again. Vitaly is 36? 37? We still see heavyweights who can compete at that age.

It would be a big accomplishment if Vitaly were to win, I just don't see this match coming off.