Wbc Greenlights Peter/Toney Ii

WBC/Jose Sulaiman dance on the head of a pin

The World Boxing Council, which not long ago gave their imprimatur to the Sept. 2 Sam Peter/James Toney WBC heavyweight eliminator at the Staples Center in L.A., with the winner (Peter) to fight the winner of the WBC heavyweight title fight between then-champion Hasim Rahman and Oleg Maskaev, has approved by a vote of 21 to 10 a rematch between Peter and Toney.

In a statement released to the press, the WBC said the quick and surprising approval of a Peter/Toney rematch is in no way a reflection of the skewed and confusing verdict of the judges in that bout. The WBC Board of Governors reached their decision for two other reasons.

1. First, for having been an extremely close fight which divided the opinions of the media and fans. This rematch will clear the air and we will have an official undisputable challenger to our new champion Oleg Maskaev.

2. The WBC believes that at this moment there can not be a more interesting heavyweight fight than this rematch. There is a huge public demand for this rematch and it will be very good for the promoters, as well as the prestige and the importance of boxing in the world.

WBC President Jose Sulaiman said, “James Toney was No. 1 ranked official challenger and he had no need to fight anyone to gain the right to contend for the title. By choosing Samuel Peter, the highest rated boxer adopted a top-level sports decision and the WBC wishes that the official challenger be the winner of this rematch so nobody has doubts about it. The WBC decided, however, that should a purse offer be necessary for this rematch, the purse will be divided 55 percent for Samuel Peter and 45 percent for James Toney.

“Samuel Peter spoke with me about his respect for the decision made by the WBC, continued Sulaiman. He also stated that even though he wants to fight for the title immediately, he will accept the rematch to show once again his merits to contend for the title.”

“The WBC invites all parties to kindly restrain from using a hard language in their public statements, since boxing is a sport for gentlemen and we all would like to keep it that way.”

I’m not sure whether to say Oy vey or Jesus H. Christ.