Sam Peter (34-3, 27 KOs), is in his final week of training camp in the high altitude of Big Bear, Calif. A native of Nigeria, now fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev., Peter will break camp on September 2 and head to Frankfurt, Germany to challenge IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KOs.) Promoted by KMG and K2, in association with Top Rank, Klitschko vs. Peter will take place Saturday, September 11 at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt
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This is a big day. Samuel peter has been training for weeks in Big Bear for the opportunity for fight Wladimir Klitschko in Frankfurt. Germany. He is here with his long time manager Ivaylo Gotsev, his trainer Abel Sanchez and Tom Loeffler from K2 Promotions who will tell us about the September event in Germany.
Todd duBoef: Welcome, this is a wonderful opportunity for Top Rank to work with K2 Promotions again and I will let Tom speak about the event.
Tom Loeffler: We are really excited about the event as well, hosting another Klitschko fight and heavyweight championship fight in Germany. This one will be at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt. It will be scaled for 45,00 people and will be live in Germany on RTL as well as over 100 other countries and in the US it will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and re-broadcast on Sunday on ESPN1. We are looking forward to having a lot of viewers for this rematch. The fight came about when Povetkin cancelled after we won the purse bid for that and we are really happy we could work out this fight. Samuel is a true warrior and there was really no hesitation at all for him wanting to get back in the ring with Wladimir. In fact, ever since the first fight, Ivaylo has told me he wanted a rematch and now it is coming to fruition on September 11.
Todd duBoef: Before we were involved with Sam Peter, I was fortunate enough to be at that first fight, Miguel Cotto was the co-feature on the card, and it was an incredible fight. When people think of great heavyweight fights, to have anyone down three times in a fight and not get the decision, something spectacular must have happened. Sam and Ivaylo have clawed there way back to where they are and I give them a lot of credit for their determination. Ivaylo I think is a government spy…he had Sam training early on thinking the Povetkin fight was not going to happen, so I think the US government will be interviewing him soon about knowledge behind the scenes in the eastern European part of the world and maybe help world diplomacy. Now I would like to introduce the man with the foresight to see this fight coming.
Ivaylo Gotsev: It’s been about 10 years since the day I laid eyes on Sam Peter at the Olympic games in Sydney. Way back then I saw something special about Sam, he had certain tools and I knew he was destined to be world champion. Four years before that I saw Klitschko and had my eyes on him and I knew he was going to be a great champion. Now our roads have collided on two occasions and Sam will provide the biggest challenge to the Klitschkos in the last five years. You have seen the first fight and you will see a great fight on September 11.
Sam Peter: I have a lot to prove. I have a chance to redeem myself from the 2005 fight. It is going to be a great fight. I am getting another chance to prove that I am the best heavyweight champion in all. The loss was a bad mistake. This time I am going to prove that I can become a champion again. For sure, on September 11 in Germany it is going to be a great fight. I don’t have much to say because I know that my gloves will speak for me in the ring.
Abel Sanchez: I have been with Sam now since last May. The dedication has been the big difference I have seen in Sam. I have been able to keep him in the gym six or seven days a week. We have been in camp for eight weeks and we are looking forward to a great heavyweight fight because I think he has put in the work this time. I think in the past he has allowed outside sources to distract him and he had a lack of commitment but I think his time, to me, it has changed. The first one was exciting and this is going to be just as much.
Did you feel the Chambers loss was bottom for you?
Sam Peter: Yes, and I will be looking for that boy again after this fight. I don’t know how that boy did what he did but after this fight I will take care of him.
Everything at time was frustrating at that time. I had lost the championship and the promotion was so bad. I am OK now and everything is straight up. I have the best promoter in the world and the best coach in the world, I have the best manager in the world and I am going to be the best.
Everything in Big Bear is great. It is a great place to train. It is very peaceful. I didn’t know about Big Bear for all these years but it is a great place to train. Abel brought me up here and he doesn’t take my nonsense. He doesn’t take “No” for an answer. He wants to see working. I am happy about being here.
How important is it to you to be champion once again?
Sam Peter: Very, very important, that is why you see me in Big Bear. This time around I am taking this fight very seriously. It is important for me to leave my home to be in camp. It wasn’t easy to leave home.
Can you learn anything from the first fight?
Sam Peter: That has already been taken care of. On September 11, he will be down and will not stand up again.
Abel, what do you see in Sam that makes you think he can beat Klitschko?
Abel Sanchez: When I first started with Sam in May of last year, I told him next summer we would be talking about Klitschko and in 12 or 14 months we would be fighting Klitschko and we would have to prepare for him from that day. He has been progressing. Everybody has looked at Sam as a big brawler and a big puncher but we have been trying to get him some boxing skills that he had put aside. We have been developing them again. You can’t just come in the ring with a single plan against Klitschko; you have to come in with an A, B and a C plan and to be able to use them at different times. He has been working on that and has improved a lot on the boxing end of it, not just the brawling end of it.
Do you feel your experience between 2005 and now will help you in this rematch?
Sam Peter: I have been a professional now for 10 years and have been fighting the best. Everything has changed a lot for me and September 11 is going to be a great show. Everybody is going t see me in a different way than 2005.
How is the way you closed the fight against Aguilera going to help you?
Sam Peter: That fight was a fight for me to move on. I don’t really want to talk about that fight. I just wanted to make a statement and I made it and now I am here.
Ivaylo Gotsev: For those of you who have followed Sam’s career, one thing he always brings to the table is his punching power and that’s what has been a missing ingredient in this heavyweight business. Another missing ingredient is the willingness to throw those punches and take the risks. Although everybody regards Klitschko as a big puncher, he is not a risk-taker. Samuel is a risk-taker and a big puncher and that’s what makes him so exciting. He is a pure puncher and that’s what you are going to see on September 11.
I think his jab has looked better also…
Sam Peter: You’ll see the jab on September 11th.
Todd duBoef: We talk about the career of Sam Peter…he is young. He is a young guy who has fought everybody and excelled with tremendous ability early on coming out of the Olympics. Where he is today, he is so primed and ready. Time is on his side because he doesn’t have a lot of wear and tear and he isn’t at the latter part of his career. James Toney is over 40, now we have someone who is very seasoned at a young age ready to capture the title back.
Tom Loeffler: In Germany, this is one of the most anticipated fights as the Klitschkos go. Sam is perceived as a very dangerous opponent. He had Klitschko down three times and has tremendous punching power. Sam has 27 KOs and Wladimir has 48 KOs and that’s 75 KOs between the two of them. They are both really big hitters and in the first fight Sam was a favorite to beat him. Tickets sales in the weeks leading up to the fight have been really strong.
Do you think you can get a decision in Germany?
Sam Peter: The victory and my judges I have in my right hand and the judge is my left hook. There will not be a decision this time around. This time he will not get up from my left hook. I am ready and I am prepared and I will not need a referee or a judge.
Klitschko has improved also since the first fight…
Sam Peter: He has not improved. He is still right, right, left, right. Jab, left hook. He doesn’t improve. This time it will be different.
Do you think he will be taking you lightly?
Sam Peter: I don’t know. But I will be bringing my own judge and referee to Germany on September 11.
How will it be different when you get him down this time?
Sam Peter: This time around anyone I touch will not be standing up. I don’t think Wladimir will be able to stand me after four rounds.
What has been the motivation to get back to this level?
Sam Peter: Before I rushed myself in everything I did, but now I don’t rush. I take everything the way it comes. I am taking this very seriously and September 11 is going to be a great fight. There is going to be a lot to watch and a lot to remember.
Klitschko is still the same person I fought five years ago. Nothing has changed. Both Klitschkos are still the same fighters they have always been.
Todd duBoef: This fight is showing global appeal of the sport. Great heavyweight fights create a lot of interest. It has always been that way and it always will be that way. Everyone always asks us who is going to be the next great heavyweight. Well, on September 11, we feel it will be Sam Peter’s shining moment so tune in because it is going to be exciting.
