"Nigerian Nightmare" Battles Diaz On Mayweather Undercard
1/17 - Bob Arum of Top Rank announced today the "Nigerian
Nightmare," hard-hitting undefeated heavyweight Samuel Peter who pulverized
his last opponent, will take on Yanqui Diaz of Cuba in a featured
12-round undercard bout at the AmericanAirlines Arena on Saturday,
Jan. 22.
The Peter vs. Diaz bout joins the "Showdown on the Bay" card in which the
main event features two-time world champion "Pretty Boy" Floyd
Mayweather Jr. against Henry "El Nitro" Bruseles live on Home Box Office
(HBO).
Samuel Peter, 24, of Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, has a record of 21-0 with
18 knockouts. Yanqui Diaz, 28, of Pinar Del Rio, Cuba, is 13-1
with eight knockouts.
"Fight fans always like young, powerful heavyweights who come to
fight and that's what we have in Samuel Peter and Yanqui Diaz,"
Arum said.
Peter is coming off a brutal, devastating performance. He blasted a
hard left hook and knocked out 41-4-1 Jeremy Williams cold on Dec.
4th in Las Vegas.
"I'm the real man," Peter said in the ring that night. "This is the
beginning of my journey."
Peter, 24, added "I don't even watch tapes of my opponents. My
trainer does that. I just go out and do my business."
"His strategy is 'Destroy' and that's what he does," said Ivaylo
Gotsev, manager of Peter.
Diaz, who lives and trains in Las Vegas, has also been on a hot
run - He had a spectacular stoppage of undefeated and former world
cruiserweight champion Juan Carlos Gomez who is also from Cuba;
stopped 7' tall Marcellus Brown in one round and won a 10-round
split-decision over two-time world title challenger Vaughn Bean.
"Yanqui knows all of the tricks," said Wes Wolfe, manager. "He's
right-handed but he'll switch to lefty. He boxes up and down, in and
out. And, he knows how to beat Samuel Peter."
Tickets for Showdown on the Bay are priced at $350, $250, $150, $60 & $35
and can be purchased at the AmericanAirlines Arena box office, all Ticketmaster
outlets or by calling in Dade 305 358-5885, Broward 954 523-3309, West Palm
561 966-3309 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.
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