Samuel Peter boasted that he would knock James Toney out inside of four rounds. He didn't, but he didn't need to, as the "Nigerian Nightmare" took a split decision victory at the Staples Center in Los Angeles last night.

Peter, 27-1 (22), landed bludgeoning overhand rights but seemed to run out of steam as the fight progressed. Toney, 69-4-3 (43), who weighed in at 233 pounds and displayed an ample belly, counterpunched effectively but his stumbling into the ropes after being hit by Peter's punches apparently did not impress the judges. Two of them scored it 116-111 for Peter but one had it 115-112 for "Lights Out".

Peter now moves on to a title bout, possibly against Oleg Maskaev; Toney will probably seek a fight with another titlist, perhaps Sergei Liakhovich or a rematch with Hasim Rahman, in order to get back into, um, the thick of things. The loss is just another incident in the roller-coaster career of Toney, who can't seem to snare that elusive heavyweight title after two previous attempts. Perhaps the third time's a charm.