Samuel Peter

Samuel Okon Peter (born September 6, 1980) is a Nigerian professional boxer.

In 1992, some boxers came to his school to train.

The curious young 11-year-old stopped by and asked if he could train along with them.

He was put up against an experienced amateur and knocked him out.

This marked the beginning of a successful amateur career for Peter.

He won the Nigerian Amateur Heavyweight Championship and the Africa Zone 3 Heavyweight Championship.

He faced stiff competition as an amateur (including a knockout victory over 2000 silver medalist Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov of Kazakhstan).

However, he prevailed and was given the opportunity to represent Nigeria at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Peter lost in the quarterfinals to Italian Paolo Vidoz by decision.

However, his performance was noted for being very impressive from such a young pugilist and hence more excitement was generated for him than the eventual gold medalist, Audley Harrison, to whom Peter had lost a very close decision just a few months before the Olympics.

Immediately after the Olympics, Ivaylo Gotzev signed on as Peter's manager, and Andy "Pops" Anderson became his coach.

Peter made his professional debut on February 6, 2001, against Bulgarian fighter Georgi Hristov in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Peter won the bout by first-round knockout.

He had seven fights in 2001, winning all of them but one in the first-round.

Peter's impressive performance in his early fights landed him a promotional deal with Dino Duva of Duva Boxing.

Peter made a step up in competition the following year, as his first fight of the year was against Marion Wilson.

The bout was scheduled for four rounds.

With 11–37–3 record, Wilson was known for his durability and toughness, having never lost inside the distance and occasionally pulling upsets, such as wins over Corey Sanders and Paea Wolfgramm or split draw against Ray Mercer.

Peter won the bout by unanimous decision.

Peter had his next fight 19 days later against Julius Joiner (2–0–1, 1 KOs).

This was Peter's first televised fight, as it was aired on ESPN2.

The bout was on the undercard of the event that had James Toney facing Sione Asipeli and Lamont Pearson facing Orlando Salido.

Joiner did not come out for the second round, prompting the referee to declare Peter the winner by corner retirement.

Peter had three more fights in 2002, winning each by second-round stoppage and having the former two televised by ESPN2.

Afterwards Peter did not enter the ring for 8 months before facing Dale Crowe for the WBC's Youth heavyweight title.

26-year old Crowe had a 24–6–2 (15 KOs) record coming into the fight and had only been stopped by DaVarryl Williamson.

Crowe became notorious after the fight against former world heavyweight champion Greg Page, in which he pushed Page against the ropes, which resulted in Page ending up partially paralyzed.

This was the first professional fight in Peter's career scheduled for 10 rounds.

The event was aired on ESPN2.

Peter won every round on all scorecards before stopping Crowe in the fourth round.

Peter returned to the ring three months later, facing Lyle McDowell (27–9–1, 18 KOs) on June 21, 2003, in a fight televised by HBO as part of the card that saw Lennox Lewis facing Vitali Klitschko in the main event.

Peter stopped McDowell in the fourth round.

Peter finished the year with two second-round stoppages, boosting his record to 16 wins in 16 fights, with 15 of them inside the distance.

He signed to fight Lawrence Clay-Bey (18–2, 13 KOs) in December in a bout televised by ESPN, however Clay-Bey pulled out of the fight due to injury.

In his prime, he was known for his rivalry with the Klitschko brothers, having faced Wladimir twice (in 2005 and 2010) and Vitali once.

Peter was named among the 20 greatest athletes in the history of independent Nigeria by The Punch in 2023, while his capturing of the WBC heavyweight title was ranked the 26th most memorable moment in independent Nigeria's sports history by Premium Times in 2020.

He was ranked by The Ring among ten best heavyweights at the conclusion of a year from 2005 to 2008, reaching his highest ranking of world No.2 in 2007.

Peter is known for his punching power and holds a 78.9% knockout-to-win ratio.

Originally, Peter's preferred sport was football.

He held the WBC heavyweight title in 2008, when he stopped Oleg Maskaev in six rounds.