Football
Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer 19y

Peter looks to take advantage of quiet division

The heavyweight division is at a virtual standstill while the four title holders do a whole lot of nothing. Meanwhile, power puncher extraordinaire Samuel Peter looks to continue making noise with his fists.

Vitali Klitschko, the most recognized of the belt holders, hasn't fought since December and boxed only twice in 18 months. He's been injured and avoiding tough fights, including a mandatory with Hasim Rahman. Klitschko's latest idea of asserting himself as the baddest man on the planet is to fight long washed-up Oleg Maskaev in September in a fight viewed as such an egregious mismatch that neither HBO nor Showtime has any interest in it.

Chris Byrd would love to fight, but he's been forced to wait out a court battle to see who will be his appointed mandatory – Wladimir Klitschko or DaVarryl Williamson. However it goes, neither is viewed as a legitimate No. 1 contender.

John Ruiz, already the bane of many boxing enthusiasts because of his agonizing grab-and-jab style, is back in the picture after he was handed his belt back on a silver platter just two weeks after losing to James Toney because Toney's post-fight drug test came up positive for steroids. There is talk he could face Kevin McBride, who is not rated among the top 100 heavyweights, but gained a name by beating Mike Tyson last month.

And Lamon Brewster, the most anonymous of the titlists, scored a spectacular 53-second knockout win against Andrew Golota last month, yet promoter Don King is bringing Golota back first, on an Aug. 13 pay-per-view card. Brewster may have to go to Germany to face little-known mandatory Luan Krasniqi.

That leaves the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Peter, a former Olympian from Nigeria now based in Las Vegas, to feast on the B players while creating excitement among fans because of his deadly power.

Peter (24-0, 21 KOs) was front-and-center this holiday weekend when he knocked out crafty Taurus Sykes (23-2-1, 6 KOs) in Reno on Saturday night.

Peter has been getting more and more exposure in recent fights, including appearances on ESPN2, HBO and Showtime in his past three fights – impressive knockouts of Gilbert Martinez, Yanqui Diaz and Jeremy Williams.

Peter, who at 24 is by far the youngest of the newer crop of rising heavyweights, wants a significant fight.

"All I ever have been looking for is the chance to prove myself," Peter said. "After this fight, I am not going to see what happens. I am going to make things happen."

Around the ring

Night of the Olympians: Six of the 2000 U.S. Olympic boxers made their professional debuts on a big card at Madison Square Garden's Theater in New York in January 2001. The 2004 class, most of whom have already turned pro, didn't have that sort of coming out party.

However, promoter Dan Goossen hopes to give several of them a big showcase Aug. 11 on the next boxing special on the "Best Damn Sports Show Period" (Fox Sports Net). Goossen is planning to put five U.S. Olympians on the same card, along with 2000 British super heavyweight gold medalist Audley Harrison (18-0, 13 KOs).

Expected to fight on Goossen's card are both of the U.S. medalists in Athens – light heavyweight gold medalist Andre Ward (4-0, 2 KOs), who is campaigning in the pros at middleweight, and middleweight bronze winner Andre Dirrell (4-0, 3 KOs), who is campaigning as a super middleweight.

Also on the card will be super heavyweight Jason Estrada (3-0, 1 KO) and heavyweight Devin Vargas (2-0, 2 KOs) and the pro debut of flyweight Ron Siler.

"We feel this is a great way to get attention to the Olympians," Goossen said. "Rather than do them singularly, it has a much bigger impact with them all being displayed together. It's great for the kids, its great for the fans and it's great for TV."

Goossen hopes to put the card at either the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut or in Ward's hometown of Oakland.

Pacquiao settlement: Former featherweight king Manny Pacquiao settled his lawsuit against Murad Muhammad, his former promoter, this week. Pacquiao received an undisclosed amount of money and was freed from his promotional contract with Muhammad. Muhammad also dropped a counter suit.

The settlement, which came while the eight-person jury was deliberating, makes Pacquiao a promotional free agent.

Pacquiao, the Filipino star, sued Muhammad in April in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, claiming that Muhammad had skimmed money from his purses and put him in a tax bind with the IRS by failing to properly withhold taxes from his purses.

Pacquiao had sued for $3.8 million in actual damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

"The case was settled by Manny in return for a release from his contract with Murad and a payment by Murad of an undisclosed amount of money," Judd Burstein, Pacquiao's attorney, said. "We are all happy with this and Manny is ecstatic that he is free."

Pacquiao's promotional freedom will allow him to pursue a rematch with Erik Morales. They put on a sensational fight in March that Morales won by close decision.

Pacquiao co-manager Shelly Finkel said he hoped they would move forward with a plan that would see Morales and Pacquiao co-headline an HBO card on Sept. 10. If they each win, Morales and Pacquiao would co-headline an HBO PPV card on Dec. 10 before facing each other again next spring.

On the Sept. 10 doubleheader, Morales might move up to lightweight for one fight and face newly crowned title holder Leavander Johnson. But Johnson promoter Lou DiBella is seeking $750,000, which means the fight probably won't happen. Another possibility for Morales is 1996 U.S. Olympian Zahir Raheem.

Pacquiao may face former 130-pound titlist Yodsanan Nanthachai, who lost his title via decision to Vicente Mosquera in April.

De La Hoya changes mind: Oscar De La Hoya's plan to fight Sept. 17 on an HBO PPV doubleheader with junior lightweight champ Marco Antonio Barrera is off.

De La Hoya, who is busy promoting Bernard Hopkins' 21st middleweight title defense against Jermain Taylor on July 16, has decided not to fight for the rest of the year.

One of the reasons is because his wife, Millie, is pregnant with their first child and De La Hoya doesn't want to go away to training camp while she is pregnant.

De La Hoya said he would return in 2006 either at 154 or 147 pounds.

Barrera will now headline the Sept. 17 card in a 130-pound unification bout with Robbie Peden of Australia.

Quick Hits
  • HBO PPV has fall dates tentatively on hold for a pair of its stars. Hopkins is penciled in for Oct. 1. Should Taylor defeat Hopkins July 16, the date could be filled by a Hopkins-Taylor rematch. If Hopkins wins, he wants to move up in weight and face light heavyweight king Antonio Tarver. Mayweather, whose dominant junior welterweight title-winning effort against Gatti last week drew an impressive 340,000 pay-per-view buys, is targeting Nov. 12. Arum hopes to match Mayweather with welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito or former champ Shane Mosley. Burstein, Mosley's attorney, told ESPN.com that he and Arum have had preliminary discussions about the fight.

  • King has a Sept. 3 Showtime card and is pitching the network on a junior middleweight title doubleheader. One fight being offered is belt holder Daniel Santos defending against Cory Spinks, the former undisputed welterweight champ who is moving up in weight. The other fight being pitched would see a pair of former welterweight title holders – Ricardo Mayorga and Michele Piccirillo – squaring off for the vacant 154-pound belt recently stripped from Javier Castillejo. Showtime prefers to have undisputed welterweight champ Judah on the card.

  • Former junior flyweight champ Jorge Arce of Mexico was supposed to challenge flyweight champ Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand on the undercard of the Christy Martin vs. Lucia Rijker "Million Dollar Lady" pay-per-view, but the fight is off. Wonjongkam and Top Rank could not complete their deal. However, Arce will still appear on the card against Angel Priolo. If Arce wins, he would face Hussein Hussein of Australia in a rematch of one of the year's best action fights on Oct. 8 on the Showtime PPV undercard of the probable Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo rematch.

  • Charismatic 20-year-old welterweight prospect Joel Julio (19-0, 18 KOs), coming off an impressive first-round blowout of Arthur Medina on the Arturo Gatti-Floyd Mayweather card, returns Aug. 20 on the Fernando Vargas-Javier Castillejo card.

  • Judah calls out Mayweather: Undisputed welterweight champ Zab Judah and new junior welterweight titlist Mayweather are good buddies. But that doesn't mean he isn't interested in fighting his friend.

    "Floyd knows what I bring to the table and I know what he's got," Judah said. "If he wants to move up to 147, I'm waiting here for him because I always want to fight the best guys out there."

    Mayweather (34-0, 23 KOs) put on an impressive performance last Saturday, stopping Gatti in six rounds to claim a 140-pound title.

    Judah (34-2, 25 KOs), a former junior welterweight champ, was impressed.

    "Floyd's performance speaks for itself," Judah said. "He's now won world titles at 130, 135 and 140 pounds. This is a tremendous accomplishment for any boxer, and I congratulate him on that."

    Mayweather is considering trying to step up to 147 this fall, and Judah, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley are the most obvious potential opponents.

    A Judah-Mayweather bout could be tough to make because Judah is promoted by Don King and Mayweather is with King's arch rival, Bob Arum.

    King, however, seemed open to the match.

    "I also congratulate Floyd on his accomplishment," King said. "He can unify world titles at 140 pounds, but the real fight the public wants to see is Judah vs. Mayweather for the undisputed world welterweight championship. Zab and Floyd have never ducked anyone. I'd like to see Floyd accept Zab's challenge for what would be one of the all-time great matches."

    Chavez hurt: Julio Cesar Chavez, whose "Adios" fight against Ivan Robinson in Los Angeles was so well-received – doing more than 100,000 pay-per-view buys – that he and promoter Top Rank were planning an encore called "Adios, Arizona" Aug. 13 at America West Arena in Phoenix. However, Chavez (107-5-2, 88 KOs), the three-division champion and Mexican icon, still has a very sore hand from hitting Robinson so much during his 10-round decision win that the bout against an opponent to be determined will be postponed.

    It will be rescheduled for the fall. Junior welterweight prospect Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (20-0 15 KOs) will also appear on the card.

    Talk of Diaz-Freitas: Lightweight titlist Juan Diaz (27-0, 13 KOs) could next face former title holder Acelino "Popo" Freitas on an ESPN PPV card in November.

    Carl Moretti of Diaz promoter Main Events and Freitas promoter Artie Pelullo are discussing the match, and ESPN is interested in carrying it.

    Freitas will become available upon completion of a buyout of Pelullo's option on a rematch between Diego Corrales and Freitas.

    Diaz, who would need to win and come out healthy from a July 16 non-title bout against Arthur Cruz, defended his belt with a ninth-round TKO of Billy Irwin in January. He was supposed to return in April to face Ebo Elder on ESPN's first pay-per-view card. However, Diaz suffered a cut a week before the fight and it was canceled. Freitas also needs to win a non-title bout July 16 in his native Brazil.

    British shakeup: One of the worst-kept secrets in boxing was made official this week, a move that dramatically alters the sport's landscape in Great Britain.

    Promoter Frank Warren, Britain's most powerful promoter, has had an exclusive deal to supply subscription cable network Sky with his Sports Network boxing cards for the last 10 years. But Warren's deal with Sky has expired and he has made a deal to return to terrestrial network ITV.

    In the United States, it would be like a promoter concluding an exclusive deal with HBO and moving to ABC.

    ITV will broadcast 20 Sports Network cards. Warren's stable includes super middleweight champ Joe Calzaghe, featherweight titlist Scott Harrison and, assuming they work out a new contract, junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton.

    The first card of the deal on July 16 will feature Matt Skelton's British heavyweight title defense against Mike Tyson-conqueror Danny Williams and the highly anticipated professional debut of lightweight Amir Khan. Khan rocketed to stardom in the UK by winning a silver medal in the 2004 Olympics as his country's only boxing representative. His final amateur bout, a rematch of the Olympic final with Mario Kindelan, drew more than 6 million viewers on ITV a few months ago.

    Warren promoted cards on ITV for 14 years, many of them featuring Britain's biggest stars: Nigel Benn, Frank Bruno and Naseem Hamed, before going to Sky.

    Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.

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