ESPN Boxing

Heavyweight contender Samuel Peter thought he beat James Toney, and so did two of the three judges, when they fought an all-action title eliminator Sept. 2 in Los Angeles.

	Toney

	Peter

However, Toney promoter Dan Goossen appealed the split decision to the WBC, which sanctioned the match to determine a mandatory challenger for title holder Oleg Maskaev, and won.

On Tuesday, the WBC ordered an immediate rematch after its board of governors voted 21-10 in favor of one.

Peter (27-1, 22 KOs) won the bout 116-111 on two scorecards while the third judge had it 115-112 for Toney (69-5-3, 43 KOs). The victory should have given Peter a mandatory shot early next year against Maskaev, but now he will face Toney again, most like in early 2007.

Dino Duva, Peter's promoter, was unhappy with the ruling but said he will abide by it.

"I have two reactions," Duva said. "I think it is totally unjustified and wrong that they ordered a rematch because they took the scoring of neutral judges and threw it out the window. That's wrong. That being said, I am going to abide by what they did. Sam Peter looks forward to fighting James Toney in a rematch as soon as possible so we can clear everything up once and for all and they can stop denying Sam his opportunity to fight for the heavyweight title.

"Sam took the news the way I did," Duva added. "He's not happy about it and he doesn't think it's fair. But at the same time, he will honor what the WBC did and beat James more convincingly the next time."

Goossen was pleased by the ruling. He said he tried to make a rematch right away, but he had no choice but to appeal to the WBC when Duva wouldn't discuss it.

"It seemed like there was a tremendous outcry for a rematch, especially from the media, most of whom had Toney winning the fight," Goossen said. "So it's bittersweet. I wish I didn't have to go through this again to prove what we believe, which is that James beat Sam Peter on Sept. 2. We just didn't get the decision. Professional judges, umpires and referees in all sports don't always get it right. We're fortunate that in our business we can do it again. That's what we wanted.

"I tried to do it without going to the WBC. I asked Dino and Sam to do it again and, obviously, their feeling was to stay away. We did what we had to and we are pleased with the result," Goossen said.

WBC president Jose Sulaiman outlined reasons why the rematch was ordered.

"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," Sulaiman said. "Two, the WBC believes that at this moment there cannot be a more interesting heavyweight fight than this rematch. There is a huge public demand for this rematch."

Sulaiman also pointed out that Toney was already in position for a title fight and didn't have to fight Peter in an eliminator. Toney, who received a debatable draw with then-titlist Hasim Rahman in March, had been granted another title shot against the winner of the Aug. 12 Rahman-Maskaev fight.

Peter, 25, did earn one thing with his victory over the 38-year-old Toney -- a more favorable negotiating position for the rematch. If Duva and Goossen can't reach an agreement and the bout goes to a purse bid, Peter is entitled to 55 percent of the winning bid with Toney receiving 45 percent.

Showtime televised the first fight and can have the rematch if it wants because it has the right of first negotiation and a last look on Peter's next bout.

"Showtime has some rights with Sam," Duva said. "We owe it to Showtime to offer them the fight first, both morally and contractually. They've been big supporters of Samuel Peter and we appreciate that."

Ivaylo Gotzev, Peter's manager, said the rematch can't happen quick enough.

"We'll get the job done without the judges' involvement this time," he said. "This was a great fight the first time and the second time around it will be even better. The boxing fans are the ultimate winners. But to James Toney I say, 'You wanted a rematch so badly, but be careful what you wish for.'"

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.