WBC BELT

When the renowned boxing promoter, Don King tipped the 'Nigerian Nightmare' Samuel Okon Peter to win the World title bout against Oleg Maskaev, a former Russian but now American citizen, sceptics doubted such prediction and wondered where he got such confidence from. This was because Oleg had expereince, exposure and maturity on his side to knock out a first time contender fot the belt. But King had been working with Samuel Peter and had seen his potential and his determination to reach the pinnacle of his career in boxing. For the bout on the 8th of March 2008, King knew Samuel would win through a knockout because he was focused, devoted and very fit to take on anyone regardlees of experience or exposure. Oleg Maskaev has not fought since December 2006 so he was not in good form as Peter who had fought to win the interim title.
Before the D-Day, Samuel Peter had arrived Cancun, Mexico two weeks earlier clad in a traditional Nigerian outfit which attracted a lot of Mexicans at the airport. He was showcasing not only the outfit but proudly announcing to the world that Nigeria is ready to lead other countries because we have abundant human and natural resources.
On the D day, the referee Guadalupe Garcia was ready for a wonderful fight. In the first and the second rounds, both boxers were trading punches without any getting the upper hand. But in the 3rd round, Peter' punches and jabs dazed Oleg more than once that he bowed under the blows. Although he tried throwing a jab or two but that did not affect Peter. One thing i noticed was the delay of Peter in releasing his supposedly killer punches. This affected his 4th and 5th rounds.
In the 6th round, the winning round, Peter lost his balance in the 52 seconds but in a rebound, he came back with 13 punches to the head of Oleg and the referee had to step in immediately to stop the fight.
SAMUEL OKON PETER became the new World Boxing Council heavyweight champion of the world.