Peter vs. Chambers on March 27th

By Jason Kim: Former World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (30-2, 23 KOs) hopes to get his career back on the winning track on March 27th against heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers (33-1, 18 KOs) at a still to be determined site. Peter, 28, from Nigeria, was recently defeated by the big Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko in a 9th round TKO loss in October 2008.

Peter, ranked #4 in the WBC, #5 in the WBO and #6 in the IBF, was soundly beaten by Vitali, losing every round until quitting on his stool following the 8th round. It’s hard to blame Peter, for at only 6’0″, he was giving up a huge seven inches in height against the huge 6’7″ Vitali, and was unable to get past his long jab and hard right hand.

Against Chambers, 26, only 6’1″, Peter should have things much easier for him when he attempts to land his big punches. Chambers would seem to be the perfect opponent for Peter, because Chambers is highly ranked, positioned at the number #5 spot in the IBF, and is well thought of by many in the boxing world.

His style is similar to former heavyweight champion Chris Byrd, in that Chambers is a defensive wizard who likes to make his opponents miss and then make them make them pay with jabs and quick flurries. Chambers is still in the rebuilding stage of his career after losing a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision loss to former 2004 Olympic heavyweight Gold medalist Alexander Povetkin in a IBF Heavyweight Title Eliminator in January 2008.

Chambers started off well in the first four rounds, landing well and puffing off both of Povetkin’s eyes, but then Chambers ran out of gas and was badly outworked for the remaining rounds of the fight. Since that time, Chambers has taken things slow, beating journeyman Raphael Butler, Livin Castillo and Cisse Salif in his last three fights in 2008. Chambers looked good in each fight, stopping both Butler and Castillo, while beating Salif by a significant margin.

Despite only two losses on his record, both to the Klitschko brothers, Peter has been dismissed by many people, who see him as a limited fighter only capable of slugging it out with his opponents. However, in analyzing his abilities, I personally rate him above all the top heavyweights with the exception of the Klitschko brothers.

Peter has too much power for the likes of David Haye, Povetkin, Alexander Dimitrenko, Ruslan Chagaev, Nikolay Valuev and Juan Carlos Gomez, who would likely be steamrolled by Peter if they were to meet up with him. In losing to Vitali, Peter has nothing to be ashamed of. Any other fighter in the division would have been beaten by Vitali on that night, and probably much quicker than Peter was.

Chambers, unless he’s able to increase his problematic stamina issues, is likely to lose by a decision or more likely get knocked out by Peter on March 27th. No doubt, Chambers has better boxing skills than Peter, but without the power or stamina to stand up to him for a full 12 rounds, I see Chambers being knocked out.

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