On 6 October at 10 p.m, in Madison Square Garden, Peter was knocked down 3 times in the second and third round by McCline, who had a height advantage of almost 6 inches. Though he seemed badly hurt in the third round, Peter managed to get up and eventually won the remaining rounds to win the match with a unanimous decision and retain his title as the WBC interim heavyweight title. As in the second Toney fight the key to Peter's victory was the use of his triple jab, footwork, head movement, and combination punching which is also attributable to his trainer Manny Masson. He kept Mccline off with the jab and then forced him backwards in the final minute of each round to score points. Mccline was perhaps tired from throwing so many power punches early on. Nevertheless, Peter outworked him for the better part of nine rounds.