Samuel Peter once again bested savvy ring veteren James Toney, in a suprisingly dominating fashion, via uninaminous decision (a total reversal of my prediction). The fight, while better than the previous, was more one-sided towards "The Nigerian Nightmare," who showcased improved skills and hand speed, including delivering Toney's first knockdown in over a decade in the second round, off of a jab. Despite being convincingly beaten, Toney still appeared to be in good shape and managed to hold his own (for the most part) under the crushing power of his young opponent. However, Peter, too, sported better conditioning than in the first fight, which no doubt showed as he was able to throw some impressive flurries (especially for a man his size) and accurate & effective counterpunching. Most notable, however, was his improved skill level, which seemed to borrowed at times from Toney's own evasive defense style and combos.
Both fighters looked very determined to take the other out, especially Peter, who has been pretty teethed(sp) about having to fight the rematch rather than the champion. With the definitive win, he has finally earned the title shot against Oleg Maskaev, which the WBC unrightfully denied him of the first time around (due to the controversy of that bout), while Toney still has a shot at one of the other titles, as his performance tonight led to no contradictory reason.
P.S.: The undercard bout featuring a victorious Travis Simms over Jose Antonio Rivera was pretty good and more one-sided than the main event. What may have fueled Simms fire could have been the complaints leveled against him by the opposition prior to the fight that he clinches too much, which led to some special prefight warnings and an extra watchful eye from the referee....which didn't really matter much, seeing as how a bloodied and battered Rivera got TKO'd in the ninth round.
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