James Toney hired Blanks but ended up firing blanks in his rematch with Samuel Peter at L.A.'s Staples Center last night, getting dropped in the second round and proving less elusive than he was in their first bout. The scores were 119-108, 118-110, and 120-107, all in favour of the "Nigerian Nightmare".

Peter admitted to doing more running in preparation for the rematch, and it showed. He threw clubbing, bludgeoning punches and battered Toney against the ropes, while Toney only tired and fought flat-footed, landing hard counters but looking increasingly like a beaten man as the rounds wore on. Despite the much publicized hiring of fitness guru Billy Blanks to help Toney get in shape, it was Peter who learned the lessons of their previous encounter, training seriously and reaping the benefits of his training camp in the ring, at his flabby opponent's expense.

Peter, 28-1 (22), stays in the thick of the heavyweight mix. Intriguing fights could be made with WBC champ Oleg Maskaev, Hasim Rahman, WBO champ Shannon Briggs, or a rematch with Vladamir Klitschko, whom he knocked down three times en route to a decision loss. Peter has crude skills and is not exactly poetry in motion, but because of his brutal knockout power, he will be a danger to any top heavyweight fighter, especially those with suspect chins.

For Toney, 69-6-3 (43), he will stay in the heavyweight division, but at 37, he may have already blown his opportunites at winning a heavyweight title against Rahman, Peter and Ruiz. The hiring of Blanks obviously backfired, as Toney's effectiveness was compromised in the ring. Previously, Toney's appetite and his positive steroids test barred him from heavyweight supremacy. Toney, in true characteristic form, believes he beat Peter again. But it may well be three strikes and you're out for the former middleweight champion.