McCLINE DECLINED: PETERS REMAINS CHAMP

Jameel McCline has failed for the fourth time to grab the Heavyweight title despite Samuel Peters, ugly start of any fight since he gained lime light.

In my last article before the fight, I made it clear (when I did a review on McCline) that he does not have a solid amateur background, secondly, I noted that a ranked boxer can spring surprises and third, that when it matters most, McCline lacks the will or desire to succeed. All these factors came to play in Saturday’s fight. First He (McCline) Started up surprisingly and knocked down Samuel Peters in the second and twice in the third round, in my opinion a “good” boxer would have finished Peters in the fourth round because Peters leg was still wobbling but amazingly McCline declined to take what would have made him the “Big Time”. More so and true to fact, McCline lacked the will and desire to succeed, from the fourth round those wonderful combinations of his hands fizzled out, it was like he had no fire in those hands any more, as the match progressed he began to tire and Peters gained confidence. I think strongly that McCline poor amateur background is taking a toll on him and it did also in that fight and more importantly you don’t assume you have won a fight when the opponent is standing right in front of you or maybe Peters relentlessness sparked fear in him, for he obviously had no ideas of what next to do, especially from round five. According to the great Mohammed Ali “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them-a desire, a dream, and a vision. They have to have last minute stamina; they have to be a little faster, they have to have skill and will but the will must be stronger than the skill”. And it was the will that was lacking; maybe a pep talk from the great one would have done the magic.

On the other hand, Samuel “the Nigerian Nightmare” needs to thank God and perhaps the unwillinglyness of McCline to be a Champion or put differently McCline just declined to be a Champion. This is not to take away anything from the bravery of the Champion. He showed a tremendous trait of a true Champion and becomes one of the few Heavyweight Champions that survived knock down and still went ahead to win the fight, Larry Holmes and Klitschko been the other two who survived such obstacles. The great Mohammed Ali never did. According to Ron Borges of ESPN “Peter pulled himself back up again despite moving as if walking across a sheet of ice on a frozen sidewalk, McCline oddly began to retreat. Further More, Promoter Don King said “Like a toddler, he learnt a lesson tonight, he learned to get up”, A lesson Mike Tyson never learnt until his career wind down. Kudos must also go to the Peters corner they were exceptional, they helped him gain back confidence and came back into the fight by the 10th round Peter become sharp, landing some good jabs that moved sweat off McCline’s face. Between the 10th and 12th round he landed only one punch but by that time Peter knew he was well ahead and maintained composure. I called up my editor by the end of the fourth round and he asked me “any hope?” I said yes but only if he can regain confidence and that he did. Another aspect to it is the fact that the Champion proved that he can win by either a knock out or by points, he can take beating and can also give out, he showed class against Toney and a against s declined McCline he amazingly showed he could pick out points, I guess his corner made him slow down and gradually picked up those valuable points. An important observation must be taken into cognizance, Peter defended poorly, McCline almost strolled into him and that why he could land some super shots at Peters. Almost through out the fight He lands a shot with one hand and leaves the other low, that was why McCline caught with a right shot to the chin. But from the 8th round Peter began working on McCline’s body which was the most appropriate thing to do, since the opponent was bigger and had a longer reach. Another fundamental question is, what happened to Samuel’s left hand, where the fire power usually is. He did not seem to use the hand much as I expected, after the fight, Peter informed that he had broken the hand in training but refused to inform the commission so that he could go on to fight. If that is truthful, then he fought like a Champion enduring pain to ensure he retains his title.

All three Judges scored in favour of Peters (115-110,115-112,113-112) the commentator was able to record 114-111, McCline did not contest the decision, in his words “I let him away, I could have finished him, I should have finished him but I didn’t”, he now has a pedigree “allowing Champions go free” I guess he forgot his wife was at the ring side.

Peter won, we thank God, my dream is a Maskeav away but the truth is that a good fighter would have punished Peters and to add to that He is beatable and looks very vulnerable, except he improves. Note also that Vitali Klitschko is itching for a fight early next year and most probably against the interim Champ and that would be big pay and a fitting heavyweight clash.