Jameel McCline was scheduled to fight Vitali Klitschko on 22 September for a title elimination. However, the fight was canceled because Klitschko had suffered a back injury in training. Under these conditions, a fight was arranged between Peter and McCline. Peter stepped into the ring as the champion trying to defend his title. Much controversy preceded the match since McCline had been accused of using illegal substances in 2005 and 2006, but the organizers decided to let the fight happen despite of this. Lab analysis would be available about 5 days after the fight. Peter almost pulled out of the fight due to a hand injury he had sustained due to inadequate hand-wrapping during his training camp in the Poconos but the situation was resolved when Manny Masson took complete control of Peter's hand-wrapping.