Press Release: According to Dino Duva, the promoter of heavyweight contedner Sam Peter, the WBC has ordered a box-off between its highest-rated available contenders, WBC #4 Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter, 24-0, and WBC #3 Sinan Samil Sam, 24-2, to determine the next #1 contender. Currently, Monte Barrett and Hasim Rahman are scheduled to fight an eliminator next month, with the winner of Peter-Samil Sam to become the mandatory after the Vitali Klitschko situation is resolved. “We’re very happy about the WBC’s decision to recognize Samuel as a candidate for their top spot in the ratings,” exclaimed Duva.
Duva says that Team Peter must go to work on defeating their next, and perhaps most formidable, foe to date. “Sinan Samil Sam is no walk in the park. A victory over him will be a big feather in Samuel’s cap. He’s a tough guy, probably the toughest opponent yet for Samuel, as far as ability and credibility. He deserves to be here too, and we're looking forward to a tremendous fight.”
Peter's manager Ivalyo Gotzev says that this box-off is also good news for fans of the heavyweight division. “The current status of heavyweight boxing right now is you have a bunch of attorney’s writing letters and filing lawsuits. There’s a lot of action outside the ring and not much inside it.
The sooner we get Samuel in a position to sort everything out, the better for boxing. We’re going to do it the old-fashioned way, by knocking people’s heads off, less attorneys and more fighting. We’re not taking any short cuts; Samuel is a true warrior. We want him to get to the number one position by fighting the best.”
“We have begun negotiations with Samil Sam’s promoter, Wilfried Sauerland, and we’re looking forward to fighting him, hopefully in the fall,” continued Duva. “We’re very excited and thankful to the WBC for recognizing Samuel's true worth. It’s a tough fight, but Samuel wants to prove to everyone that he’s number one in the world.
WBC champion Vitali Klitschko would like to face Calvin Brock in September, but if he follows through with that plan, it could cost him the WBC championship, which would then be bestowed on Rahman or Barrett. Still, a victory over Samil Sam would at the very least ensure an eventual mandatory title challenge. “And if things work out that we have to wait quite a while for our shot, then we’ll look into fighting for all the number one contenderships in the world until none of the champions can hide from him,” said Duva.
