Akinwande and Brian Nielsen behind him, scoring back-to-back upset victories against rising prospects Andre Purlette (35–1, 32 KOs) and Attila Levin (29–1, 23 KOs) and drawing against former IBF world cruiserweight champion Al Cole. The bout took place on the undercard of Jose Luis Castillo vs. Joel Casamayor and was aired on Showtime. Both boxers started the fight aggressively. After back-and-forth trading in the opening seconds, Williams retreated onto the outside, at first attempting to bob-and-weave but then changing his tactics to circling around Peter and working behind the jab after the bob-and-weave strategy didn't work. Meanwhile Peter was stalking his opponent across the ring, fighting his way inside and putting heavy pressure on Williams' body whenever Williams was at mid-range. With 20 seconds into the second round, Peter threw a one-two combination; as Williams ducked under Peter's right hand, Peter turned around and landed a left hook while Williams was square-footed and moving out of the mid-range. Williams was out cold for several minutes. Peter was declared the winner by second-round knockout, winning the vacant WBC-NABF heavyweight title. The win was nominated for the Knockout of the Year by ESPN. By December 2004, Peter was ranked No.9 contender by the WBC. On January 22, 2005, Peter faced Cuban heavyweight Yanqui Díaz, who had a record 13–1, 8 KOs coming into the bout. This was the second time Peter was scheduled to fight in a twelve-round bout. Díaz was a highly regarded prospect due to his long and decorated amateur career, with boxing manager Wes Wolfe predicting he would become "a superstar among the Cubans". After an unexpected loss against Tony Thompson, Díaz went on a 5-fight winning streak, which included an upset first-round TKO against undefeated former long-reigning WBC world cruiserweight champion Juan Carlos Gomez and a split-decision victory over Vaughn Bean. He was ranked No.13 contender by the WBO by January 2005. The bout took place on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Henry Bruseles and was aired on HBO. The fight saw Peter patiently stalking Díaz across the ring and finding his way inside while Díaz tried to stay on the outside, fight behind the jab and circle around his heavier opponent. In the first round, Peter sent Díaz down with a right hand. He did it again in the second but was deducted two points for intentionally hitting Díaz while he was down. In the