Vladimir Klitschko retains triple world titles

The Ukrainian floored his opponent in the tenth round with a flurry of punches to Peter's head to claim his 55th victory in 58 fights, and the 49th by knockout.

Peter, dubbed the Nigerian nightmare, keeled over backwards and never looked like making the count as the fight came to a dramatic end.

Until then the Nigerian had frustrated Klitschko and the 40,000 crowd at the Eintracht Frankfurt football arena without staking a real claim for the titles.

Peter, who had won 34 of his previous 37 bouts, had never been counted out before.

"Samuel Peter is a very aggressive boxer. I have great respect for him and he fought to the last punch," said Klitschko, 34, in the ringside interview on Saturday.

Klitschko's brother Vitali holds the WBC title while Briton David Haye holds the WBA crown. But with the brothers not fighting each other and Haye repeatedly refusing a much awaited unification clash with them, any other bout looks like an inexpensive substitute.

Peter, WBC champion for six months in 2008 before losing to Vitali, fought Vladimir five years ago and, despite knocking the Ukrainian down three times on that occasion, ended up losing.

This time, he was the second choice for the fight after Russia's Alexander Povetkin failed to show up for a pre-fight news conference because of a sinus problem, prompting the IBF to order Klitschko's management to find a new opponent.

Klitschko controlled the fight from the second round, hurting the Nigerian with some left-right combinations.

He struck Peter with a vicious uppercut in the sixth round, by which time the Nigerian already had a swollen right eye. Klitschko used his jab to wear down his opponent and by the ninth round his win looked only a matter of time. Klitschko finished the fight with one minute and 22 seconds of the tenth round remaining.

Meanwhile, Scotland's Willie Limond suffered the third loss of his career after being stopped in the sixth round of his high- profile fight against Mexican legend Erik Morales.

However, there was no shame in defeat against the last man to have beaten Manny Pacquiao, the top-rated boxer in the world, as he continues his comeback from retirement.

Limond appeared to have won the first three rounds in front of 54,000 fans at the Plaza de Toros bullring in Mexico City, on a show organised to mark the country's 200th anniversary of independence.

The 31-year-old Scot expertly moved around the ring to stay out of the reach of Morales, who has held world titles at three different weights.Limond was landing more punches than his opponent although none troubled the home favourite.

But the Glasgow fighter, who had been sleeping with an oxygen mask to prepare him for fighting at altitude, began to struggle in the closing 30 seconds of the fourth round.

Limond's movement slowed down but he still looked comfortable until he was caught in the side by a vicious left-handed body punch by Morales in the sixth round.

Limond, whose previous defeats came against Alex Arthur and Amir Khan, sank to his knees and struggled to get his breath back before being knocked down twice more as Morales continued to aim for his body.

The referee halted the fight when Limond knelt down for a third time with 14 seconds remaining in the round. The victory was the 50th professional career for 34-year-old Morales, on his second fight since coming out of retirement.