PETER KNOWS ABOUT PUNISHMENT.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES BOXING

As a young man growing up in Akwaibom, Nigeria, Samuel Peter was given little help by his family when it came to things he needed for boxing training.

Tonight, he fights James ``Lights Out'' Toney in a World Boxing Council heavyweight title elimination bout at Staples Center. Considering what he had to endure when he took up boxing at 16, it's a wonder that Peter made it this far.

``I have come a long way in a short time,'' said the 25-year-old, 26-1 with 22 knockouts. ``I put my time, I put my effort.

``It was rough. When you had to run 50 laps in a field, no track, without shoes, you know what rough means.''

Peter ran barefoot, but not because his family was so poor it could not afford to buy him shoes in which to train.

``I had shoes to go to church, to school and everything, but I didn't have shoes for training because my mother didn't want to support me (in boxing),'' Peter said. ``She wanted me to go to school. But this is where God wanted me to be. Bare feet, 50 laps, so it's not easy.''

Neither will it be easy for Peter to defeat Toney, who has won world titles in the middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight divisions. Toney had taken the World Boxing Association heavyweight belt from John Ruiz in April 2005 via unanimous decision in a fight at Madison Square Garden.

Toney, however, tested positive for steroids. The fight with Ruiz was ruled no-contest, and the belt was returned to Ruiz.

Peter seems unfazed by what Toney has accomplished.

``I don't take anything from him,'' Peter said of the 38-year-old Toney. ``He is three-time world champion and it is not easy to become world champion. But it's time for Toney to quit.''

Another element to this fight is Toney's weight. He surprised everyone by weighing in at only 233 pounds Thursday.

His trainer, Freddie Roach, only nine days earlier had said Toney weighed 250 and that he expected him to weigh at least 240 tonight.

That could still happen if Toney powered down the food the past two days, as he is known to do. But if Toney is in better shape than he was when he challenged Hasim Rahman for his WBC heavyweight belt in March in Atlantic City, when he came in a flabby 237 and could manage just a draw, we could see Toney at his best.

And his best is worthy of the Hall of Fame, in which he will no doubt be enshrined five years after he retires.

``I am a fighter. That is what I do,'' Toney said. ``I beat people up. I make them quit, knock them out, whatever. You have known me all these years, you know that if I do not knock him out, I will have him destroyed by the end of the fight.

``Everybody wants to keep saying I am a boxer. I do not box. I fight. You know that and he (Peter) knows that. I do not run from anybody.

``I have been in with the best fighters in the world, better fighters than him. Whatever he is going to do is not going to be enough.''

What Peter figures to do is rush Toney and put a large amount of pressure on him.

But that is just the style that plays right into the hands of Toney, who, even at his age can probably still slip punches better than anyone in boxing.

Especially if he is close to being in shape, something he was not against Rahman.

``When I am in shape, I will be knocking somebody out,'' Toney said. ``Somebody is going to get physically damaged, and it will not be me."

Peter certainly has a large task in front of him. But at Wednesday's final news conference, he appeared relaxed.

``I will hit him with my best punch,'' Peter said, ``and he will not stand up."

Toney, of Los Angeles via Ann Arbor, Mich., is 69-4-3 with 43knockouts. At 5-foot-9, maybe 5-9 1/2, Toney will be giving up several inches in height to the 6-1 Peter, who weighed 257 pounds Thursday.

`Ghost' is ready to haunt opponent

Robert ``The Ghost'' Guerrero listened to the question, then with a sparkle in his eye, gave his answer.

``No. Pure excitement,'' he said.

No, he doesn't have butterflies. Yes, he is more than a bit excited about his first shot at a major championship. It will come tonight at Staples Center when he challenges Eric ``Mighty Mouse'' Aiken for his International Boxing Federation featherweight championship.

Their 12-round fight will be the main undercard bout to the James Toney- Samuel Peter heavyweight elimination fight. Showtime will televise.

Guerrero and the other three aforementioned fighters were on hand Wednesday at Staples for the final news conference. Guerrero appeared relaxed, confident, focused.

``I have been dreaming about this since day one, since I started boxing,'' said Guerrero, 23, who hails from Gilroy but trains in Northridge and Los Angeles. ``Fighting for a world title is what inspired me to start boxing, period. My older brothers were fighters, my dad. Every kid that joins boxing, his goal is to win a world title.''

Tonight is Guerrero's opportunity to realize his ambition.

Standing in his way is Aiken, of Marysville, Ohio, via Washington D.C. Aiken is 16-4 with 12 knockouts. He will be making the first defense of the belt he won from Valdemir Pereira, who was disqualified in the eighthround of their fight in May for excessive low blows.

Aiken is known as a hard puncher with power in both hands.

Guerrero, however, believes that Aiken is going to need a lot more than a heavy punch to keep his title belt.

``You can't just bring power into a fight,'' said Guerrero, promoted by Dan Goossen in Sherman Oaks. ``You gotta have more than just power. You gotta have the skill down, you gotta have the defense down, you gotta be able to adapt. You can't just be a big puncher because when you're looking for knockouts only, nine times out of 10, when you're on the top level, they don't come.''

Aiken, 26, has had a roller coaster of a career. He has won four of his past five starts after having lost two of his previous three for a 5-3 record the past two years. Three of the victores came against club fighters, as did two of the losses.

Aiken's co-trainer, 1984 Olympic gold-medal winner Jerry Page, said Aiken has had difficulty maintaining a proper training regimen because he moved to Marysville a couple of years ago and his chief trainer, Adrian Davis, could not follow him there.

``When this gentleman is on his game -- we're talking about ample time to train, and his traing camp is proper -- he is a monster,'' Page said.

Aiken said once he dispatches Guerrero, he will have his sights set on bigger and better things -- such as a move up to super featherweight.

``I want (Marco Antonio) Barrera, (Erik) Morales, (Manny) Pacquiao,'' Aiken said. ``I don't know if they're in my class, but I am definitely in theirs.''

First things first. Although Aiken at 5-foot-9 is tall for a featherweight, Guerrero at 5-10 is even taller. Guerrero also is a southpaw -- with a vision.

``Now,'' Guerrero said, ``it's just get in there and make it happen.''

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Photo:

Samuel Peter, left, and James Toney pose with promoter Dan Goosen, center, before tonight's heavyweight bout at Staples Center.

Oscar Hidalgo/Associated Press

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