VITALI KLITSCHKO TKO end of 8 SAMUEL PETER

When the more experienced Brian London easily outpointed Billy Walker in a British heavyweight showdown back in the 1960s he used an American expression afterwards: “It was like taking candy from a baby.”

That remark came to mind across the years as I watched the delayed coverage of Vitali Klitschko toying with Samuel Peter in the first of Showtime's championship double-header on Saturday night.

Klitschko made it look easy. He made Peter look like little more than a strong novice.

I went the whole day without knowing the result, and watching the fight as if it were a live event I kept waiting for Peter to launch a desperate charge, with the fight slipping steadily away from him. He couldn’t do it, of course. It isn’t so easy walking into a big, strong, much taller man who is smacking a left jab into your face every time you try to get close to him.

At times it was as if Klitschko was almost playing with Peter. It was as if the 6ft 7ins Ukrainian had never been away, almost as if Round 1 of Saturday night’s fight was a continuation of Klitschko’s eight-round win over Danny Williams almost four years ago.

This fight was similar to the one with Williams, but without the knockdowns, although at least Danny threw some huge hooks that at least looked threatening if only he could get one on target — which he couldn’t.

The awkward cleverness of Klitschko was very much in evidence in Saturday’s fight. Because he is so tall and stays back, he is extremely hard to hit on the chin, and the long left hand is like a pole coming through a window. Peter just couldn’t do a thing with him. His attempts at closing the range were clumsy at best. He was off balance and unsure, and all the while the left hand was in his face — jabs, lots of hooks, and then the right hands, some of which seemed to be turning Peter’s head sideways on his massive neck.

Short of getting knocked out, the worst thing for a fighter is to be in a bout in which he can’t hit his opponent and his opponent is hitting him. That was the situation in which Peter found himself. The fight it most reminded me of was Wladimir Klitschko outclassing Lamon Brewster with long-range sharpshooting in their rematch, enjoying target practice against a game fighter who couldn’t mount any sort of an offense. Now Vitali joins his younger brother as a heavyweight champion

The fight showed what some had suspected would be that case, that the analytical Klitschko had studied Peter long and hard and decided that this was a boxer who wasn’t as dangerous as he seemed to be and a fighter he could beat decisively even after such a long time away.

With his hands by his sides, Klitschko boxed as if he was in the ring with a sparring partner although there was probably more mental and physical strain than was apparent to non-combatants. He seemed to have Peter beaten mentally, though, from the first moments — maybe even before the fight began. Klitschko had the look of a man who knew he was going to win and he carried himself with a champion’s bearing whereas Peter moved forward with trepidation, almost as if he half-expected this wasn’t going to be his night.

With Peter’s eyes puffing up, nose bloody and blood inside his mouth, I thought, by the eighth round, that the Nigerian’s corner might be wondering whether it was worthwhile to keep sending their man out for more of the same, and I was pleased when the decision was made to retire the badly beaten fighter before the start of the ninth.

Peter’s co-promoter, Dino Duva, showed a lot of class in the post-fight interview, not making any excuses and saying that the fighter’s well-being was the most important consideration. Duva said that Peter will be back. I am not so sure. Peter had the shaky fight with Jameel McCline, struggled with an ageing and injury-plagued Oleg Maskaev and now he has just been given an eight-round beating that must have been psychologically damaging. He seems to have regressed in terms of confidence, which is not a good thing for any fighter but especially one who needs to feel that he can walk through anyone. Peter, it would appear, no longer has that belief.

Klitschko, though, should get credit for a highly efficient if unexciting display of boxing. He had Peter discouraged very early and he never let him into the fight. After such a long layoff, and having had so many injuries, it was, I thought, a remarkable performance by a remarkable individual.