According to the Bragging Rights Corner,
Immediately following the heavyweight world title fight, which begins
at 9 p.m. ET/PT on tape delay, two light heavyweight champions will
meet, live on Showtime, when Antonio "Magic Man" Tarver and "Bad" Chad
Dawson square off in a long-awaited grudge match.
"It will be
experience versus youth in two of the biggest fights of the year," said
Ken Hershman, Showtime Senior Vice President and General Manager,
Sports and Event Programming. "The boxing world is on notice for Oct.
11, and we are thrilled to deliver both landmark events in one
blockbuster telecast on Showtime. I give special thanks to these four
world-class fighters for taking the important fight at the right
time."
The Peter-Klitschko showdown will be co-promoted by
Duva Boxing, K2 Promotions and Don King Productions from a site to be
determined. Tarver vs. Dawson is promoted by Gary Shaw Productions in
association with AT Entertainment.
Peter, 27 of Las Vegas, by
way of Akwaibom, Nigeria, captured the WBC belt in his first world
title fight on March 8, 2008 in Cancun, Mexico. With his trademark
sledgehammer right hand followed by a sustained flurry of combinations,
Peter blasted his way to a sixth-round TKO over Oleg Maskaev to claim
the belt.
Frustrated in his attempt to secure a rematch
against the only man to defeat him, Wladimir Klitschko, Peter will
instead turn his sights to Wladimir`s brother, Vitali.
"I want
to send Vitali back into retirement, and then end his brother`s reign
as champion," boasted Peter, who will make his fourth Showtime
Championship Boxing appearance in his past five fights. "I will become
the first fighter to end an entire family`s boxing career. Everyone is
going down. The heavyweight division is mine."
Klitschko,
who turned 37 on July 19, has not fought since Dec. 11, 2004, when he
successfully defended his WBC title against Danny Williams in Las
Vegas. In 2005, Klitschko was scheduled to face Hasim Rahman for his
next title defense but the fight was called off when Klitschko injured
his knee and back in training. Since then, Klitschko has run for mayor
of his native city of Kiev, Ukraine, twice, including a reportedly
narrow defeat earlier this year.
Upon his return to boxing,
Klitschko is entitled to challenge Peter immediately for the WBC crown
because he retired without suffering a loss during his reign as
champion.
If successful on Oct. 11, Klitschko will join his
younger brother at the top of the heavyweight division, making them the
only siblings in history to hold world heavyweight title belts
simultaneously. Wladimir is the current International Boxing Federation
(IBF), World Boxing Organization (WBO) and International Boxing
Organization (IBO) champ.
"I cannot believe this day is finally
here," said Klitschko, who captured the WBC title on April 24, 2004,
with an eighth-round TKO over Corrie Sanders in Los Angeles. "I am
injury free and ready to take my title back.
"My brother,
Wladimir, and I have had a long-time goal of being heavyweight
champions at the same time. That dream will be realized when I take
back what is rightfully mine, the WBC heavyweight title. The next step
will be holding all of the heavyweight belts with Wladimir."
Kazakhstan`s Ruslan Chagaev, who is currently injured, holds the World Boxing Association (WBA) belt.
Peter,
who sports an undefeated record of 6-0 on SHOWTIME, including one win
on ShoBox: The New Generation in 2004, has come of age on America`s No.
1 Boxing Network.
After scoring a controversial 12-round split
decision against James Toney in their first outing on Sept. 2, 2006,
Peter left no doubt in the rematch four months later. Peter showed
tremendous improvements in defense and movement when he thoroughly
dominated Toney en route to a 12-round unanimous decision victory
(119-108 and 118-110 twice) in Jan., 2007.
Peter then showed
the intestinal fortitude of a world champion when he recovered from
three early knockdowns against hard-hitting veteran Jameel McCline on
Oct. 6, 2007, on SHOWTIME. After hitting the canvas once in the second
and twice in the third round, Peter pounded away and turned the tide to
secure a 12-round unanimous decision by scores of 115-110, 115-111 and
113-112.
"Vitali Klitschko almost beat Lennox Lewis, so he is
surely one of the dominant heavyweights of this era," said Dino Duva,
Peter`s promoter. “Vitali will prove to be Sam’s toughest test yet,
but a dominant victory will be the first step in Peter`s mission to
rule the heavyweight division."
