Samuel Peter vs Jameel McCline

Three knockdowns in the space of two rounds were not enough to win Jameel McCline the interim World Boxing Council heavyweight championship at Madison Square Garden. Samuel Peter survived the first trips to the canvas of his boxing career, recovered from a dangerous third round and defeated the 266-pound New Yorker by unanimous decision over 12 rounds on October 6, 2007. Judges Billy Costello and Steve Weisfeld scored the contest 115-110 and 115-111 respectively, while Julie Lederman had the narrower total of 113-112. Referee Mike Ortega was the third man in the ring.

Peter, weighing 250 pounds, had been preparing to challenge Oleg Maskaev for the full WBC championship until the Russian withdrew with a back injury. The sanctioning body installed Peter as interim champion and approved McCline as his challenger. McCline had himself been preparing for a different assignment, first against Vitali Klitschko and then DaVarryl Williamson, before being promoted to the main event. At 37, and entering his fourth attempt to win a version of the heavyweight championship, the 6ft 6in challenger was not widely expected to disturb the powerful Nigerian.

The opening round supported that expectation. Peter established his jab and used it in twos and threes, moving sufficiently to prevent McCline from setting himself. The champion was the shorter man but appeared quicker and more purposeful. McCline boxed carefully behind his longer reach, looking to catch Peter as he advanced rather than engage him in a contest of strength. Peter continued to control most of the second round until the final moments, when the entire complexion of the fight changed. McCline met him with a short right uppercut which landed cleanly and sent him backwards and down. It was the first recorded knockdown Peter had suffered as either an amateur or professional. He rose after Ortega’s count and reached the bell, but his condition was uncertain.

McCline attacked early in the third and found the same opening. Another uppercut, followed by a left-right combination, put Peter down for a second time. The crowd rose as the unexpected result appeared close at hand. Peter regained his feet but remained badly shaken, and McCline committed himself to the finish. The challenger drove him backwards with heavy punches and forced him to hold and cover. Peter began throwing back as McCline’s first assault lost some of its force, but a left followed by two rights sent the champion down once more. Under the ten-point system, the round was properly scored 10-7, leaving Peter with a substantial deficit after only nine minutes.

McCline’s opportunity passed before the round ended. He had Peter hurt three times but expended much of his strength trying to finish him, and the champion’s resistance improved as the attack continued. In the corner, Peter was instructed to abandon unnecessary exchanges and return to his jab. He followed that advice in the fourth, keeping McCline at the end of the left hand and varying his attack between head and body. Rather than loading up with single blows, he began to make the larger man work continuously. McCline’s movements slowed, and the distance between his punches lengthened.

By the fifth, the momentum had altered. Peter advanced behind a stiff jab and struck with both hands whenever McCline became stationary. The challenger still possessed the physical size to tie him up and occasionally land a counter, but he no longer carried the same sharpness displayed in the second and third rounds. Peter was not especially polished, yet his pressure was steady, and his punches had greater weight. McCline increasingly fought in short passages, while Peter maintained the higher rate of work and collected the rounds.

The middle stages followed much the same pattern. Peter kept his attack varied and avoided standing directly in front of McCline for long periods. The challenger attempted to conserve energy, using his reach and clinching when Peter moved close, but he could not regain control. There were enough isolated right hands and uppercuts from McCline to remind Peter of the early danger, although they were no longer being delivered in combinations. By the end of the eighth, the contest remained close because of the three knockdowns. McCline again caught Peter with an uppercut during that round and hurt him, but failed to pursue the advantage with sufficient speed or determination. It proved his last serious opportunity.

Both men showed signs of fatigue as the fight entered its closing stages. Peter’s work was more deliberate than it had been in the middle rounds, but he continued to initiate the exchanges. In the tenth, he doubled the jab and followed with an overhand right which rocked McCline. The challenger absorbed the punch and remained upright, though his replies had become increasingly infrequent. Peter controlled the eleventh through pressure and cleaner punching, ensuring that McCline’s early advantage had been removed from all three official cards.

With the outcome still capable of being altered by one heavyweight punch, Peter boxed cautiously in the twelfth. He used the jab, avoided prolonged exchanges and did not provide McCline with the chance to repeat the uppercut which had caused so much trouble. McCline pressed when able but lacked the strength to force a decisive finish. The final bell brought an embrace between the two men, followed by boos from sections of the Garden crowd when the unanimous verdict was announced. The widest card appeared generous to Peter, but the decision itself was supported by the champion’s command of most of the later rounds.

The punch figures explained how Peter overcame the knockdowns. He landed 260 of 538 punches, compared with 144 of 412 for McCline. Peter connected with 113 jabs against McCline’s 48 and landed 147 power punches to the challenger’s 96. His accuracy was also superior, particularly with the heavier blows. McCline’s best punches had produced the three largest moments of the contest, but Peter supplied the greater quantity of effective work across 12 rounds.

Peter improved his record to 29 victories and one defeat and retained his position to meet Maskaev when the full champion recovered. Afterwards he disclosed that he had entered the contest with an injured left hand, a condition he had concealed because he feared another withdrawal would cancel the promotion. McCline fell to 38-8-3 and admitted that he had allowed the championship to escape him in the third round. That was the proper conclusion. He had found the punches required to win but not the stamina or finishing certainty to complete the task, while Peter survived his most serious professional crisis and boxed his way back into command.

In my humble opinion, the first three rounds of Peter-McCline deserve a place among the great heavyweight shootouts. Samuel Peter began confidently behind a strong jab, but Jameel McCline changed everything with a short right uppercut late in the second. Peter had never previously been to the canvas, yet McCline dropped him twice, sending him there again in the third.

McCline went for broke, and rightly so. He used his greater height well, catching Peter as he came forward rather than wasting punches at long range. After the second knockdown, Peter was badly hurt, but McCline emptied himself trying to finish the job. That was the difference. Peter kept his gloves high, held when necessary and, most importantly, continued throwing enough punches to discourage McCline from attacking without thought.

From the fourth onwards, Peter showed genuine resolve. His corner told him to stop trading blindly, and he returned to the jab, shortened his right hand and made McCline work at a pace he could not maintain. McCline still hurt him again later, but lacked the energy to follow up. I had no problem with Peter winning. Three knockdowns create memorable moments, but they do not automatically decide a twelve-round fight. McCline won the shootout; Peter recovered, adapted and won the contest.