News and views from the world of professional boxing:
• It is in the eye of the beholder what one saw in the Samuel Peter-James Toney WBC heavyweight title eliminator, shown on Showtime Saturday night.
Some may regard the close bout - Peter won by split decision - as exciting. But some others may have a more jaundiced view.
One of those people would be me.
Although I thought the bout was close - I scored it 114-113 for Toney - I wouldn't call it exciting. In fact, I would call it shameful.
With an opportunity to face new WBC heavyweight titlist Oleg Maskaev on the line, the 6-foot-1 Peter came in at a career-high 257 pounds, while the 5-foot-9 Toney weighed in at a jiggly 233 pounds.
Real champions, such as Rocky Marciano, Joe Frazier and Evander Holyfield, would unfailingly enter the ring in nothing less than 100-percent condition, making the most of the opportunity.
By the end of round six Saturday, Peter looked like a steam engine out of coal - think George Foreman in the eighth round of his bout with Muhammad Ali in Zaire - and Toney was too winded to take advantage of it.
And then there was issue of the official scoring.
While judge Gale Van Hoy saw it 115-112 for Toney, Dick Flaherty and Alejandro Rochin scored it an unreasonable 116-111 for Peter, even after he lost a point for boxing Toney's ears with both gloves.
Veteran Reno Gazette-Journal boxing scribe Steve Sneddon - who attended the fight - had it 114-113 for Peter, which correctly showed the fight was close and not the eight rounds-to-four (and the point deduction) disaster of a card Flaherty and Rochin turned in.
Trainer Jesse Reid, who has in the past assisted Peter, said he had Toney winning by two points.
This was an eagerly-awaited bout which was ruined by the boxers - who apparently had better things to do than get in shape - and the politically appointed judges, two of whom had no clue what they were watching.
• Both fighters are undoubtedly skilled, but what ultimately doomed their respective performances Saturday boiled down to lack of discipline. Neither deemed it worthwhile to pull themselves away from the dinner table.
Toney isn't a heavyweight anyway. He could easily shed the 33 pounds of Jell-O he carries around his midriff and absolutely dominate the cruiserweight division. If he wasn't so heavy on his feet, he could've danced rings around and pot-shotted the much slower, one-dimensional Peter.
As for Peter, now 27-1 with 22 knockouts, all he had to be able to do to beat Toney was sustain a high workrate of punches over 12 rounds and not let his opponent breathe.
But that would've demanded conditioning.
Discipline and weighing less would enable Peter to get in shape, which would allow him to punch crisper with more technique and volume. He has quit progressing as a fighter, something that IBF beltholder Wladimir Klitschko was able to exploit by changing his gameplan to becomong a fluid boxer who moved and jabbed a lot.
Peter is like a young Foreman, only without the height, jab and or quite the same devastating power. Toney, 69-5-3 (43) with one no-contest, is mindful of former titlist Tony Tubbs, who could be slick and box well, but had pendulous breasts and a penchant for not being all he was capable of being.
And these are the guys who are supposed to give Klitschko, Maskaev, WBA strapholder Nicolay Valuev and WBO titlist Sergei Liakhovich a run for their money.
What a shame.
• Equally shameful was watching a so-called world championship fight between former IBF featherweight king Eric Aiken and new beltholder Robert Guerrero.
If it wasn't for a falling out with his then-promoter Top Rank and an absolutely morally destitute IBF, Juan Manuel Marquez would still be the rightful champion.
Instead, the IBF stripped Marquez, sanctioned an Aiken-Valdemir Pereira title bout, which Aiken won. The amateurish Aiken, 16-5 (12), was exposed by the still untested Guerrero, 19-1-1 (12), whom Showtime commentator Steve Albert had the audacity to say should be mentioned in the same breath as Marquez, Manny Pacquiao, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera.
Any of those great fighters could beat Aiken and Guerrero on the same night.
• With the Peter-Toney match now history - and good riddance - the next significant fight will be a rematch between Barrera and Rocky Juarez, which will be shown on HBO Pay Per View on Sept. 16.
There will be two other intriguing fights on the card as well, including WBO junior lightweight titlist Jorge Barrios, 46-2-1 (33), meeting former WBO super bantamweight strapholder Joan Guzman, 25-0 (17), as well as WBC super bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez, 40-3 (30), taking on former WBO titlist Jhonny Gonzalez, 33-4 (28).
Quick picks: Although he has already accomplished all he needs to and should be retired, I'll go with Barrera, 62-4 (42), over Juarez, 26-2 (19), by points. Barrera won't be caught off-guard this time and Juarez won't likely be able to show him anything new this time.
I'm still not sold on Barrios, who is an entertaining brawler, but whose defense leaves a lot to be desired. Guzman is stepping up two weight classes for this fight, which should be close. I'll take the undefeated Guzman by decision.
In the final fight on this card, I'll go with Vazquez. Anyone who could chill Oscar Larios, who just lasted the distance with Pacquiao, should be able to handle the tough-but-overhyped Gonzalez. I'll take Vazquez in 10.
• On to the local boxing scene, where Carson City's Mike Peralta had a successful pro debut, taking a four-round unanimous decision over kickboxer Shawn Yacoubian in Irvine, Calif., on Aug. 24.
The 24-year-old Peralta was rewarded for his performance with a three-year contract by manager Jackie Kallen, who posted up a colorful analysis of the fight on her Web site.
• It was also nice to see former IBF cruiserweight champion "Koncrete" Kelvin Davis finally get some love from the 2,000 or so Northern Nevada fans who watched him destroy Chris Thomas in the fifth round at Reno Events Center on Aug. 19.
Reno's Davis was the first Northern Nevadan to win a world title, but he was largely ignored by the media and local casino owners. The 28-year-old Davis, 22-4-2 (17), will be back in the ring Sept. 21, when he faces 40-year-old Ernest Mateen, 30-12-3 (10), in a heavyweight clash at Ameristar Casino, in St. Charles, Mo.
The bout won't be televised, but Mateen has been in the ring with Vassiliy Jirov, Uriah Grant, James Toney, Antonio Tarver and had a three-round technical draw with current undisputed cruiserweight champion O'Neil Bell in 2002.
Davis is expected to follow up this fight with one against Michael Simms, 19-5-1 (13), on Nov. 11 in Sacramento.
• The 5-foot-7 Davis is facing some tall odds in his quest to become heavyweight champion, but if Davis' promoter, Don King, wanted, he should have no trouble giving him a shot.
First up would be promoter Dan Goossen's undefeated heavyweight, Chris Arreola, 17-0 (15), who stopped Damien Norris in four rounds on the Aug. 19 card in Reno.
If Davis could prevail - and he should be able to - King and Goossen could match up him and Toney in Reno. Silver Legacy mogul Glen Carano, who said before Davis lit up Thomas that he'd be willing showcase Davis in Reno if he did well (and he did great), could be true to his word and give the promoters a venue at Reno Events Center.
Styles make fights and Davis has everything Peter needed if he would have convincingly beat Toney- power, speed, relentless pressure, combination punching, murderous intent, the ability to finish a hurt fighter and - most of all - great conditioning.
Then King could put Davis in with the 7-foot, 350-pound Valuev and bill the fight - held in Reno, of course, with Yerington's Jesse Brinkley and Reno's Joey Gilbert finally meeting on the undercard - "Davis and Goliath," with the winner to meet the survivor of the Peter-Maskaev-Klitschko round-robin.
But it all starts with the first step. Bring boxing back to Northern Nevada on a consistent basis. Then let fans and the local fighters - Davis, Brinkley, Gilbert, Peralta and eventually McDermitt's Tyler and Derek Hinkey - do the rest.