Peter reaches deal to fight Vitali Klitschko

Posted: Fri May 9 8:07 PM

New York, NY (Sports Network) - Samuel "The Nigerian Nightmare" Peter reached a deal on Friday to defend his WBC heavyweight title against Vitali Klitschko.

Don King Productions announced the mandatory defense for Peter, who scored a sixth-round technical knockout of Oleg Maskaev on March 8. The bout with Klitschko is likely to take place in October in Europe.

This will be the second fight for the 27-year-old Peter (30-1, 23 KOs) against a Klitschko. Vitali's younger brother, IBF and WBO heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko, defeated Peter in a 12-round unanimous decision in September 2005. In that fight, Wladimir Klitschko was knocked down three times, but still managed to win by three scores of 114-111.

Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) was named mandatory challenger because he was the WBC champion in 2004 before leaving boxing due to a number of injuries. The 36-year-old's last fight was an eighth-round TKO of Danny Williams in December 2004.

Wladimir Klitschko will fight Tony Thompson on July 12.