Samuel Peter Celebrates His 36th Birthday Today

         

Samuel Okon Peter (born September 6, 1980) is a Nigerian professional boxer who held the WBC heavyweight title in 2008.

He rose to prominence in his early professional career following a string of knockout wins, at a time when the titles of the heavyweight division were fragmented. In 2008, he won a portion of the world heavyweight championship by knocking out Oleg Maskaev to win the WBC title. Later in 2008, in what would be his only defense of the title, Peter lost to Vitali Klitschko, who stopped him in eight rounds. Peter is known for his rivalry with the Klitschko brothers, having faced Wladimir twice (in 2005 and 2010) and Vitali once.