When heavyweight Jeremy Williams crashed to the floor of the boxing ring at Mandalay Bay last December 4, it sent reverberations not only through the arena, but also through boxing's showcase weight class.
Williams, a tough talker who liked to call himself "Half-Man, Half-Amazing," tasted a whole lot of canvas in the second round that night thanks to a devastating left cross from his opponent, unbeaten contender Samuel Peter.
More than four months later, Peter's promoter Dino Duva is still replaying scenes of the crunching shot in his mind's eye.
"That was one of the best knockouts anyone has seen in the last several years," Duva said. "What was particularly impressive was that Sam didn't even show him all of his power. If you watch carefully, you see it was the end of the punch that hit (Williams) -- and he still knocked him cold."
The spectacular knockout established Peter, who headlines a card at the Plaza downtown Friday night, as the sport's leading young heavyweight contender, Duva said.
"In the first round, Jeremy Williams had hit Sam with a few combinations," Duva said. "But Sam shook it off. He kept his cool and came back and hit him with that big left.
"That fight was Sam's big opportunity. That proved Sam has the heart, the mental toughness and those special intangibles that it takes to rise to the top of his division."
Peter (22-0, 19 knockouts), a native of Nigeria who lives and trains in Las Vegas, takes on Gilbert Martinez (18-8-3, 7 KOs) of Sacramento in a scheduled 10-rounder that will be shown on ESPN2.
If Peter has his way, Friday's match will serve as a preview of blockbuster fights to come. He covets the title belts held by Vitali Klitschko (WBC), Chris Byrd (IBF) and John Ruiz (WBA).
"I feel I'm on a mission to become the world heavyweight champion," Peter, 24, said. "That's what I'm fighting for. That's why I'm working so hard.
"I'm ready for any man who wants to face me -- Klitschko, Byrd, any of them. I'm ready to take them on."
Peter, who moved to Las Vegas after competing for Nigeria in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, followed his knockout of Williams with a fifth-round stoppage of Yanqui Diaz in January in Miami.
Peter floored his opponent five times in the fight, but was also penalized for clocking Diaz while he was down.
Despite the uneven performance, Peter said he was pleased with the outcome.
"I felt that was a great fight for me," said Peter, 6-foot-2, 250 pounds. "With the knockdowns, I was able to show everyone what I'd been training for."
As Peter has yet to be tested by top-shelf competition, Duva said he plans one or two more tuneup bouts for his fighter before he shoots for a world title match.
"I don't think, I know that Sam Peter has what it takes to be the next star in the heavyweight division," Duva said. "He has all the tools. He's an exceptional knockout puncher who can also box.
"He's also a fresh young face. Everyone's sick of the same old recycled names in the heavyweight division. For the last five years or so, everyone's been looking for someone to take over for Lennox Lewis (as the universally acknowledged heavyweight champ). This division needs a fresh, young, exciting face, and Samuel Peter is that guy. ...
"The way he's improving his boxing skills, he will be ready to challenge any heavyweight in the world."
The sooner the better, Peter said.
"Whenever somebody wants to sign to fight me, I'm here," Peter said. "I'm ready to fight for a world championship."
Tickets are $45 and $75 for the seven-bout card, which includes a 10-round welterweight fight between Oscar Diaz (19-1, 11 KOs) and Jessie Feliciano (12-3-2, 7 KOs), and a four-rounder featuring heavyweight Josh Cobb (1-0, 1 KO) of Las Vegas, the son of former heavyweight Randall "Tex" Cobb.
The show begins at 6 p.m., with doors to the Triple Crown Ballroom opening at 5:30.
Castillo-Corrales
In a media poll of 107 reporters and others on the boxing scene, 64 respondents predicted Diego "Chico" Corrales will beat Jose Luis Castillo in their lightweight title fight May 7 at Mandalay Bay, 41 sided with Castillo and two said it will be a draw.
Those results roughly reflect the betting line in Las Vegas, which has Corrales a minus-140 favorite (bettors risk $1.40 for each $1 they're trying to win).
Castillo (52-6-1, 46 knockouts) risks his WBC belt and Corrales (39-2, 32 KOs) his WBO belt in the fight, which will air on Showtime.
In another featured bout on the card, Juan Manuel Marquez (43-2-1, 33 KOs) will put his IBF and WBA featherweight titles on the line against Victor Polo (34-4-3, 21 KOs), the WBA's No. 5 featherweight contender.
Corrales is being trained by Joe Goossen, who said he expects a "slugfest" between the two powerful punchers.
"We've done our homework on this fight," Goossen said. "We've had great sparring. ... We have developed a great game plan we feel is going to be very effective. That's all I can say without tipping my hand."
Though Castillo disagreed with the analysis, Goossen suggested Castillo's recent busy schedule -- including title fights against Joel Casamayor in December and Julio Diaz in March -- could be wearing him out.
"It's hard to get yourself motivated for another champion when you've been fighting champions back-to-back," Goossen said.
Ruiz-Toney
Two title fights have been added to the undercard of Saturday's heavyweight championship bout between John "The Quiet Man" Ruiz of Las Vegas and James Toney at Madison Square Garden: Luis Perez (22-1, 14 knockouts) vs. Luis Bolano (38-2, 28 KOs) for the IBF junior bantamweight championship, and Yodsanan Nanthachai (44-2-1, 36 KOs) vs. Vicente Mosquera (20-1-1, 10 KOs) for the WBA super featherweight championship.
HBO will televise the scheduled 12-rounder between Ruiz and Toney.
Toney (68-4-2, 43 KOs) said he's ready "mentally and physically" to challenge Ruiz (41-5, 28 KOs), who holds the WBA heavyweight title.
"He can do it the hard way, get beat up for 12 rounds and end up in the hospital," Toney said at a recent workout at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. "Or, he can do it the easy way, get hit on the chin and go to sleep. It is up to him."
'The Contender'
Tickets for the final bout of the TV reality series "The Contender" -- scheduled for May 24 at Caesars Palace -- sold out quickly after being put on sale this week, organizers reported.
The show, which airs Sunday nights on NBC (Cox cable channel 3), features 16 middleweights competing for a top prize of $1 million. Matchups for the main event finale and an undercard have yet to be announced.
In memoriam
The ringside bell will toll at the Castillo-Corrales fight in honor of award-winning boxing writer Jack Welsh, promoter Gary Shaw said. Welsh died this past weekend in Las Vegas.
Jeff Haney Las Vegas Sun
Williams, a tough talker who liked to call himself "Half-Man, Half-Amazing," tasted a whole lot of canvas in the second round that night thanks to a devastating left cross from his opponent, unbeaten contender Samuel Peter.
More than four months later, Peter's promoter Dino Duva is still replaying scenes of the crunching shot in his mind's eye.
"That was one of the best knockouts anyone has seen in the last several years," Duva said. "What was particularly impressive was that Sam didn't even show him all of his power. If you watch carefully, you see it was the end of the punch that hit (Williams) -- and he still knocked him cold."
The spectacular knockout established Peter, who headlines a card at the Plaza downtown Friday night, as the sport's leading young heavyweight contender, Duva said.
"In the first round, Jeremy Williams had hit Sam with a few combinations," Duva said. "But Sam shook it off. He kept his cool and came back and hit him with that big left.
"That fight was Sam's big opportunity. That proved Sam has the heart, the mental toughness and those special intangibles that it takes to rise to the top of his division."
Peter (22-0, 19 knockouts), a native of Nigeria who lives and trains in Las Vegas, takes on Gilbert Martinez (18-8-3, 7 KOs) of Sacramento in a scheduled 10-rounder that will be shown on ESPN2.
If Peter has his way, Friday's match will serve as a preview of blockbuster fights to come. He covets the title belts held by Vitali Klitschko (WBC), Chris Byrd (IBF) and John Ruiz (WBA).
"I feel I'm on a mission to become the world heavyweight champion," Peter, 24, said. "That's what I'm fighting for. That's why I'm working so hard.
"I'm ready for any man who wants to face me -- Klitschko, Byrd, any of them. I'm ready to take them on."
Peter, who moved to Las Vegas after competing for Nigeria in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, followed his knockout of Williams with a fifth-round stoppage of Yanqui Diaz in January in Miami.
Peter floored his opponent five times in the fight, but was also penalized for clocking Diaz while he was down.
Despite the uneven performance, Peter said he was pleased with the outcome.
"I felt that was a great fight for me," said Peter, 6-foot-2, 250 pounds. "With the knockdowns, I was able to show everyone what I'd been training for."
As Peter has yet to be tested by top-shelf competition, Duva said he plans one or two more tuneup bouts for his fighter before he shoots for a world title match.
"I don't think, I know that Sam Peter has what it takes to be the next star in the heavyweight division," Duva said. "He has all the tools. He's an exceptional knockout puncher who can also box.
"He's also a fresh young face. Everyone's sick of the same old recycled names in the heavyweight division. For the last five years or so, everyone's been looking for someone to take over for Lennox Lewis (as the universally acknowledged heavyweight champ). This division needs a fresh, young, exciting face, and Samuel Peter is that guy. ...
"The way he's improving his boxing skills, he will be ready to challenge any heavyweight in the world."
The sooner the better, Peter said.
"Whenever somebody wants to sign to fight me, I'm here," Peter said. "I'm ready to fight for a world championship."
Tickets are $45 and $75 for the seven-bout card, which includes a 10-round welterweight fight between Oscar Diaz (19-1, 11 KOs) and Jessie Feliciano (12-3-2, 7 KOs), and a four-rounder featuring heavyweight Josh Cobb (1-0, 1 KO) of Las Vegas, the son of former heavyweight Randall "Tex" Cobb.
The show begins at 6 p.m., with doors to the Triple Crown Ballroom opening at 5:30.
Castillo-Corrales
In a media poll of 107 reporters and others on the boxing scene, 64 respondents predicted Diego "Chico" Corrales will beat Jose Luis Castillo in their lightweight title fight May 7 at Mandalay Bay, 41 sided with Castillo and two said it will be a draw.
Those results roughly reflect the betting line in Las Vegas, which has Corrales a minus-140 favorite (bettors risk $1.40 for each $1 they're trying to win).
Castillo (52-6-1, 46 knockouts) risks his WBC belt and Corrales (39-2, 32 KOs) his WBO belt in the fight, which will air on Showtime.
In another featured bout on the card, Juan Manuel Marquez (43-2-1, 33 KOs) will put his IBF and WBA featherweight titles on the line against Victor Polo (34-4-3, 21 KOs), the WBA's No. 5 featherweight contender.
Corrales is being trained by Joe Goossen, who said he expects a "slugfest" between the two powerful punchers.
"We've done our homework on this fight," Goossen said. "We've had great sparring. ... We have developed a great game plan we feel is going to be very effective. That's all I can say without tipping my hand."
Though Castillo disagreed with the analysis, Goossen suggested Castillo's recent busy schedule -- including title fights against Joel Casamayor in December and Julio Diaz in March -- could be wearing him out.
"It's hard to get yourself motivated for another champion when you've been fighting champions back-to-back," Goossen said.
Ruiz-Toney
Two title fights have been added to the undercard of Saturday's heavyweight championship bout between John "The Quiet Man" Ruiz of Las Vegas and James Toney at Madison Square Garden: Luis Perez (22-1, 14 knockouts) vs. Luis Bolano (38-2, 28 KOs) for the IBF junior bantamweight championship, and Yodsanan Nanthachai (44-2-1, 36 KOs) vs. Vicente Mosquera (20-1-1, 10 KOs) for the WBA super featherweight championship.
HBO will televise the scheduled 12-rounder between Ruiz and Toney.
Toney (68-4-2, 43 KOs) said he's ready "mentally and physically" to challenge Ruiz (41-5, 28 KOs), who holds the WBA heavyweight title.
"He can do it the hard way, get beat up for 12 rounds and end up in the hospital," Toney said at a recent workout at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. "Or, he can do it the easy way, get hit on the chin and go to sleep. It is up to him."
'The Contender'
Tickets for the final bout of the TV reality series "The Contender" -- scheduled for May 24 at Caesars Palace -- sold out quickly after being put on sale this week, organizers reported.
The show, which airs Sunday nights on NBC (Cox cable channel 3), features 16 middleweights competing for a top prize of $1 million. Matchups for the main event finale and an undercard have yet to be announced.
In memoriam
The ringside bell will toll at the Castillo-Corrales fight in honor of award-winning boxing writer Jack Welsh, promoter Gary Shaw said. Welsh died this past weekend in Las Vegas.
Jeff Haney Las Vegas Sun
