ESPN Boxing

CANCUN, Mexico -- Shortly after Samuel Peter was announced as the new WBC heavyweight champion, validating his sixth-round TKO victory over Oleg Maskaev, the overcrowded boxing ring inside of the bullfighting plaza started to resemble a mosh pit.

Caught up in the euphoria of the victory, Peter's handlers and supporters lifted him above their heads as he lay flat on his back.

It looked like they were getting ready to pass him around the packed arena in celebration.

Now, if Peter can lift the heavyweight division as easily as his handlers muscled up the 250-pound Nigerian, boxing's premier division can stop being a bad punch line.

Peter displayed the kind of concussive power that has historically defined the heavyweights. He clubbed Maskaev with thudding punches, while exposing his own chin to whatever Maskaev had to offer. And Maskaev did land some shots, but Peter weathered them.

By the time referee Guadalupe Garcia stepped in to stop the fight at 2:56 of the sixth round, Maskaev, a 39-year-old former Russian Army officer, was done.

Peter, displaying his awesome power, had offered a glimmer of hope for the division.

Peter's TKO victory came three weeks after Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov met in a highly anticipated heavyweight title unification match at Madison Square Garden.

Entering that fight, Klitschko was being universally hailed as the savior of the heavyweight ranks. Boxing fans were hoping that he could restore order by kicking butt and taking names in the division.

Klitschko and Ibragimov engaged in a cerebral game of cat and mouse -- Klitschko using his jab to keep Ibragimov at bay and Ibragimov making a futile attempt to get inside that jab. Neither man wanted to risk what happened to Maskaev. Talk about your heavyweight buzz kill.

For Klitschko, it was a Pyrrhic victory. He won, but the manner of victory eroded his stature in the heavyweight division, as he was roundly criticized for being too dull and methodical.

After the victory, Klitschko said he was not going to pursue his goal of unifying the titles because he was going to step aside and allow his brother, Vitali, to fight for the WBC title.

That's two strikes for Klitschko. Peter hit a home run with his victory over Maskaev because he didn't play safety first and went for the knockout.

"Sam Peter stepped up because that's who he is," said Dino Duva, who co-promotes Peter with Don King. "He's bringing the excitement back to the division."

With the victory, the 27-year-old Peter has assumed the mantle of bringing the sizzle back to the division. But Peter has also inherited an onerous mission, foisted upon him because Maskaev was trying to cash in the WBC title before having to defend it against a legitimate No. 1 contender (Peter).

He will have to fight Vitali Klitschko because Klitschko was promised the winner of this match by the WBC.

How does a man who hasn't fought in 39 months get an automatic shot at a world title without fighting a single ranked opponent first? A little backroom deal making, maybe?

OK, a lot.

After he won the WBC title from Hasim Rahman in 2006, Maskaev was trying to make a lucrative match with Vitali Klitschko, who retired as WBC champion with a knee injury in 2005.

Klitschko "unretired" for a chance to fight Maskaev. The WBC bestowed the title "champion emeritus" upon Klitschko, which allowed a retired champion to come back and face the current champion without having to go through that pesky rating system first.

Klitschko couldn't raise enough money to get Peter to step aside from his mandatory fight against Maskaev. So Maskaev was forced to go forward with his mandatory defense against Peter.

But even that was fraught with delays. It initially was scheduled for October 2007, but that fell through because Maskaev hurt his back. Oddly enough, Klitschko was also supposed to fight a tune-up against Jameel McCline, but hurt his back and pulled out of that fight.

Klitschko never made a mandatory defense of the WBC championship between the time he won the title in 2004 and the time he retired in 2005. Maskaev's first mandatory defense of the title was against Peter; it came after a 15-month layoff.

Two of Klitschko's reps, lawyer John Hornewer and Tom Loeffler, who runs the Klitschko brothers' K2 Promotions, were in Cancun all week insuring that he would get the winner of Peter-Maskaev.

Hornewer said that Klitschko had "the legal right" to the fight.

It may be legal, but there is something that doesn't feel right about a man who hasn't fought in 39 months stepping in front of more active contenders for a shot at the title. It's like cutting the lunch line at high school just because you're a senior.

Plus, Peter-Vitali Klitschko does nothing to advance the heavyweight division. Wladimir has the IBF and WBO titles and has vowed never to fight his brother.

If Vitali beats Peter, there can be no undisputed champion, which is what the heavyweight division desperately needs.

Duva said Peter will honor the agreement that the WBC has with Vitali Klitschko.

"We will open negotiations with them as soon as possible," Duva said. "Whoever they put in front of us, we will fight."

Peter, confident after his victory over Maskaev, said that he would fight both brothers in the same night. But he will have to beat them both to completely restore order to the heavyweight division. Peter knocked down Wladimir three times but lost a decision back in 2005.

With the kind of power that Peter displayed against Maskaev, and his aversion to safety first in favor of going for the KO, maybe fighting both Klitschkos isn't a bad thing.

If Peter can bring the same attitude that he did against Maskaev, boxing fans won't be subjected to another Klitschko-Ibragimov anytime soon.

That's enough reason to be optimistic about the heavyweight division.

Tim Smith is the boxing columnist for the New York Daily News.