Heavyweight hopeful

Las Vegas fighter aspires to retain undefeated status

Heavyweight Samuel Peter, right, fights Jeremy Williams in a December bout at the Mandalay Bay Event Center. Peter won the fight with a technical knockout in the second round. Heavyweight Samuel Peter

He might just be the next big thing.

In a heavyweight boxing landscape barren of any real superstars, Las Vegan Samuel Peter is hoping to emerge as the cream of the crop. The 24-year-old Peter, who hails from Akwaibom, Nigeria, hopes to remain undefeated (22-0, 19 KOs) Friday when he will face 38-year-old southpaw Gilbert Martinez (18-8-3, 7 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout from the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas.

Peter, who has lived in Las Vegas for four years now, is trained by Andy "Pops" Anderson, managed by Ivaylo Gotzev and promoted by Dino Duva, president of Duva Boxing. Peter is the North American Boxing Federation's (NABF) and United States Boxing Association's (USBA) reigning heavyweight champion.

In his last fight on Jan. 22, the 6-foot-2-inch, 250-pound Peter knocked out Yanqui Diaz (13-1) in the fifth round at the American Airlines Arena in Miami on a card telecast on HBO.

In his previous bout on Dec. 4, Peter knocked out veteran Jeremy Williams (41-4-1) in the second round at Mandalay Bay in a fight televised on Showtime. That memorable win earned Peter much respect in the sport.

"That Jeremy Williams knockout was one of the great knockouts of the last couple years," Duva said.

Son of legendary boxing figure Lou Duva, the promoter said likes the way Peter has progressed.

"These last two fights were the biggest fights of his career," Duva said. "One was on Showtime and one was on HBO, and that was his opportunity to really let the world know who Sam Peter was. And he stepped up to the plate ... and knocked them out. That, to me, shows me something when a guy steps up to the plate and performs his best when he's up against better opposition. And that's what he did in those fights."

Peter began boxing at age 16 when the Nigerian national team visited his school to practice.

"I was in school and it just so happened they brought my boxing team (Nigerian Olympic team) to school so I joined it," Peter said.

Nicknamed "The Nigerian Nightmare," Peter made the national team in 1996 and then competed for his homeland in the 2000 Olympics as a super heavyweight where he was a quarterfinalist, losing to eventual bronze medal winner Paolo Vidoz.

Deciding boxing was the career for him, Peter left Nigeria for Las Vegas to begin training to become a professional. At age 20, he made his pro debut in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he promptly knocked out Gueorgui Christov in the first round.

He's been knocking out opponents since -- 19 in all -- and is slowly being groomed to fight some of the bigger names in the sport.

One of the biggest bouts in Peter's young career was at Bally's last May when he defeated Charles Shufford (20-5) in a 10-round unanimous decision.

"I think he's improved a lot in the last year," Duva said. "The thing that I saw him turn around and really start refining his boxing skills and not just be a puncher was with the Charles Shufford fight. He (Peter) was always a puncher. Everybody's always known about his power, but with the Charles Shufford fight he showed me he has boxing skills and that if he has to box with a boxer, he has the ability to do it.

"That fight showed me two things. It showed me that Sam has the ability to get into condition to go 10 tough rounds with a good, top heavyweight and he outboxed a boxer. In that fight, Sam actually adapted to what Shufford was doing and he outboxed him the last five rounds."

Duva said he liked the fact that Peter had to go the distance.

"To me, when a guy's a puncher like that, knockouts are great. But to me, a knockout every fight doesn't mean anything," he said. "I want him to learn. He's got to learn against slick, different styles. The way he outboxed Shufford in those last five rounds impressed me as much as anything he's ever done.

"When you step up your level of opposition and fight against the top contenders, you're not going to be able to knock everybody out, especially when you're known as a devastating puncher as he is."

After the Martinez fight, Duva hopes to schedule a fight with one of the bigger names in the weight class.

"We have a commitment to be on HBO in July or August, in the summer, but no specific opponent has been picked out yet or worked out yet," Duva said. "But the concept is for him to fight a top contender, like top five, top 10."

Peter said he is ready to take on the best in the world.

"I would like to fight (Vladimir) Klitschko because he's the world champion now," Peter said. "If he wants to fight me, I'll fight him back. And I would like to fight Mike Tyson."

Fighting Tyson -- who recently signed to fight Kevin McBride on June 11 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. -- might be a longshot, but Duva said he would entertain the idea.

"It's something I would always look at," Duva said. "I would probably be willing to put Sam in with Tyson in his next fight. I would love to do that but they would never put Mike in with Sam. For three or four rounds it would be a sensational fight and the only thing that would be in question is who would be standing at the end. It would be a sensational fight."

Despite Peter's undefeated record, Duva knows it's a long way to the real top of the heavyweight division.

"I know Sam has not reached his potential yet, as scary as that may seem. I don't think he's even close to his full potential," Duva said. "He's only 24 years old. For a heavyweight, that's very young. Most heavyweights don't mature until they're 27 or 28.

"His power has always been there but his boxing skills still need to be refined a little more. He's still got some things to work on like footwork, balance, stuff like that. I want to make sure that he's totally ready and the complete skills have been developed."

Currently ranked No. 5 by the World Boxing Council (WBC), Peter was named USA Today's 2004 Prospect of the Year. He's also very clear about what his goals are.

"I see myself being a world champion no matter what," Peter said.

Also on Friday's card -- which will be televised on ESPN -- is a 10-round semi-main event between highly regarded welterweight prospect Oscar Diaz (19-1, 11 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas, and Las Vegan Jessie Feliciano (12-3-2).

Other bouts include a four-round heavyweight fight featuring Las Vegan Joshua Cobb, son of former heavyweight Randall "Tex" Cobb; a lightweight bout featuring Las Vegan Wes Ferguson (9-0-1); a six-round welterweight contest with Las Vegan Juan Pablo Montes de Oca; a four-round middleweight bout featuring Anthony Brown of Cleveland, who will be making his pro debut; and a four-round welterweight fight with Ray Biggs Jr. of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Tickets, priced at $45 and $75, are on sale at the third-floor box office at the Plaza from 1 until 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and may be purchased by calling (800) 773-0992 or 386-2110 during those days and hours or online at www.plazahotelcasino.com.