RING SPORTS MAGAZINE
James Toney vs. Samuel Peter
By: David Martinez / Boxing Historian
World Boxing Hall of Fame
It sure wasn’t the worst decision that I have seen in boxing, though the thousands in attendance at the Los Angeles Staples Center on Saturday night, September 2, 2006, and the millions watching on Showtime TV must have thought so after Samuel Peter was awarded a 12 round “split” decision over James Toney.
When I think of the most unbelievable decisions that I have seen in boxing in my 45 years in the sport, the first two that come to mind are: Floyd Patterson losing to Jimmy Ellis in 1968 and Carlos Zarate losing to Lupe Pintor in 1979. Both fights rank high on my list of the worst decisions.
In the Toney vs Peter fight, I personally saw Toney as the clear cut winner 115 to 112 (7 to 5 in rounds) on my scorecard, and this was even with Peter having a point deducted by referee Raul Caiz, SR. in round nine after a double punch (using both hands at same time, also called “cuffing”) to Toney’s head, a punch that I haven’t seen since I was a kid at a carnival sideshow thrown by a kangaroo!
This fight was billed as a WBC heavyweight title elimination, with the winner being awarded a guarantee to fight current WBC champion Oleg Maskaev.
The 38 year old Toney entered this fight with a title belt of his own – something called the IBA Heavyweight Championship – and he had not lost a fight since 1997.
The 25 year old Peter, who entered the fight as the third ranked heavyweight contender by the WBC, is one of the hardest hitting punchers in this division today. His style is very similar to another hard hitting heavyweight, Mac Foster, who fought back in the mid-sixties and seventies.
Here’s my capsule “round by round” look at the fight:
Round One: Peter is the aggressor and throws the harder punches; Toney withstands them as best he can by slipping side to side – round to Peter 10-9.
Round Two: Toney opens the round with a big right hand punch and uses his lateral movement effectively with quicker jabs – round to Toney 10-9.
Round Three: Again, Peter lands with the harder punches, and as the round ends, throws a huge over hand right to momentarily stagger Toney – round to Peter 10-9.
Round Four: This was the closest round in the fight; advantage Toney with his overall ring generalship. Peter develops a bloody nose by Toney’s jabs – round to Toney 10-9.
Round Five: Peter is very strong with his power punching and clubbing, hard rights as the round begins. He also starts throwing more effective body shots – round to Peter 10-9.
Round Six: Peter again lands hard right hands early in the round, but as the round progresses, Toney is very crafty and lands the cleaner punches . This is Toney’s best round – round to Toney 10-9.
Round Seven: Toney, in a carbon copy of the previous round, throws the greater punches, as Peter was content to stay flat footed with less movement – round to Toney 10-9.
Round Eight: Toney was very effective throughout ninety percent of the round, with Peter landing a huge left hook that rocks Toney, but not enough to win the round, as the bell rings – round to Toney 10-9.
Round Nine: Peter throws hard blows but shows signs of slowing … he delivers a “double” punch to the head of Toney in frustration and is penalized with a point deduction by the referee – round to Toney 10-8.
Round Ten: Toney starts off quickly, but Peter comes back with a vengeance to land the harder and more effective punches; this is his best round of the fight – round to Peter 10-9.
Round Eleven: Like round four; a very close round with the more active Toney getting in first with his jabs – round to Toney 10-9.
Round Twelve: Peter was excellent, using counter punches; he dominates with simply the harder and more telling blows – round to Peter 10-9.
Before the decision was officially announced by Jimmy Lennon JR ., the pro-Toney crowd of 9,852 was stunned to hear this would be a “split” decision; and, as I witnessed at ringside, Peter was more surprised by his victory than Toney appeared to be in losing!
In the semi-main co-feature, Robert Guerrero was an impressive knockout winner over Eric Aiken, claiming the IBF Featherweight title when Aiken quit on his stool after the eighth round. My personal scorecard had Guerrero winning seven of the eight rounds decisively.
I met Rusty Rubin back in 1997 upon my entry into the World Boxing Hall of Fame as a Director of the Board and Boxing Historian. He would always come to our annual banquet and we “instantly” became friends from that point forward in life. I wrote several articles for his RingSports Magazine and when I founded my own website dmboxing.com in July 2007; he offered and was my first feature writer with his column “In Rusty’s Corner”.
Rusty passed away (R.I.P.) on November 11, 2014, at the age of 72, peacefully at his home in Reno, Nevada. In keeping his sprit and legacy alive, never to be forgotten, all his postings can be viewed by clicking onto his name in the Categories section.