Editing Samuel Peter (section)

==== Peter vs. Shufford, Pudar ====

After scoring two back-to-back stoppage wins against Chris Isaac and Jose Arimatea da Silva, with the former being the first time Peter went past fifth round, Peter had 18 wins in his professional record, for which he needed 41 rounds.<ref name=peter-mx/> He then took a big step up in competition when he faced former [[World Boxing Organization|WBO]] world heavyweight title challenger [[Charles Shufford]] on May 17, 2004. This was the first time Peter was in the main event of a card. Both Peter and his manager Ivaylo Gotzev praised Shufford for accepting the fight in contrast to other heavyweights that turned down the offer, as Peter already gained a reputation of a powerful and aggressive fighter.<ref name=peter-shufford-compliment>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boxing247.com/weblog/archives/101036|title=Samuel Peter Congratulates Shufford!|website=boxing247.com|date=May 6, 2004 |access-date=August 5, 2023}}</ref> The event was the third installment of ''Heavyweight Heroes: the Search for the Next Great Heavyweight'', a monthly [[pay-per-view|PPV]] boxing series created by [[Cedric Kushner]] Promotions and broadcast on [[In Demand]] for $19.95.<ref name=peter-shufford-in-demand>{{Cite web|url=https://boxing247.com/weblog/archives/101037|title=Samuel Peter-Charles Shufford On May 17|website=boxing247.com|date=May 6, 2004 |access-date=October 17, 2021}}</ref> Shufford had a record of 20–5, 9 KOs coming into the bout and was 3–3 in his last six fights. Peter won the bout by unanimous decision, going ten rounds for the first time in his career. Three judges scored the bout 99–91, 98–92 and 97–93.<ref name=peter-shufford-bout>{{Cite web|url=https://boxrec.com/en/event/391785/771307|title=Bout: Samuel Peter vs. Charles Shufford|website=boxrec.com|access-date=October 17, 2021}}</ref> According to [[CompuBox]], Peter landed more total and power punches than Shufford in every round; overall, Peter threw 569 shots (32.2% accuracy), with 277 of them being power punches (46.2% accuracy).<ref name=peter-shufford-compubox>{{Cite web|url=http://beta.compuboxdata.com/fighter|title=CompuBox: Samuel Peter vs. Charles Shufford|website=beta.compuboxdata.com|access-date=October 17, 2021}}</ref>

Three months later, Peter faced Serbian heavyweight Jovo Pudar on 5 August 2004 at [[Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood|Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino]] in Hollywood, Florida. 33-year old Jovo Pudar had a record of 22–2 (12 KOs) coming into the bout and had never been stopped in his professional boxing career. He was 5–1 in his last six fights, with the only loss coming at the hands of [[Taurus Sykes]].<ref name=peter-pudar-bout>{{Cite web|url=https://boxrec.com/en/event/389910/766313|title=Bout: Samuel Peter vs. Jovo Pudar|website=boxrec.com|access-date=October 17, 2021}}</ref><ref name=pudar-record>{{Cite web|url=https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/18197|title=Professional boxing record: Jovo Pudar|website=boxrec.com|access-date=October 17, 2021}}</ref> The fight was televised by [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] as part of the ''[[Showtime Championship Boxing|ShoBox: The New Generation]]'' boxing program.<ref name=pudar-peter>{{Cite web|url=https://www.recordcourier.com/news/2004/jul/25/gatti-should-consider-a-new-name/|title=Gatti should consider a new name|website=recordcourier.com|access-date=October 17, 2021}}</ref> In the build-up to the fight, Ivaylo Gotzev claimed that this fight would finally establish Peter as "the next true heavyweight king in the minds of boxing fans": "enough about [[Dominick Guinn]] and [[Joe Mesi]] and all the rest of them; tune in August 5. I guarantee Samuel Peter will be explosive!" He also expressed his interest in Lawrence Clay-Bey, who was coming off of a fifth-round TKO win over former [[International Boxing Federation|IBF]] world cruiserweight champion [[Imamu Mayfield]], as Peter's next opponent.<ref name=pudar-peter-build-up/>

Although Peter was unable to stop Pudar, he bloodied his nose, eventually winning a unanimous decision. Three judges scored the bout 100–90 (twice) and 98–92.<ref name=peter-pudar-bout/> According to CompuBox, there were 1,281 punches thrown between two fighters. Peter connected on 239 shots out of 690, while Pudar landed 162 punches out of 591. Peter outlanded his opponent in each round but third and ninth (even) and connected on more power shots in all of the ten rounds.<ref name="peter-shufford-compubox"/>