By: Christopher Roche

Sam Peter was knocked down once in the second and twice in the third, but he willed himself to a unanimous decision victory over Jameel McCline.

McCline popped Peter with jabs and uppercuts in the early going, but he slowed down too much for the judges’ liking in the later rounds. Peter, who told Jim Gray after the bout that he suffered hand injuries, retained the WBC Heavyweight Title, which he was awarded on an interim basis after Oleg Maskaev pulled out of the bout with an injury.

As he was about to enter the ring, Jim Gray asked Jameel McCline about the steroids allegations, and Jameel answered with a “no comment”.

After the bout, McCline said that he could understand a one point loss or a split-decision, but he disagreed with the 115-110 scores of Billy Costello and the 115-111 score of Steve Weisfeld. Julie Lederman scored it 113-112 for Peter.