Klitschko vs. Chambers: Wladimir faces America’s best heavyweight

By Erik Schmidt: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (53-3, 47 KO’s) faces tough task in taking on American Eddie Chambers (35-1, 18 KO’s on March 20th at the large ESPRIT arena, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Chambers, 27, is perceived by many to be American’s number #1 heavyweight. The unofficial title previously was held by Chris Arreola. However, after getting totally dominated and stopped by Wladimir’s older brother World Boxing Council heavyweight Vitali Klitschko in a 10th round stoppage last year, the title is now currently held by Chambers.

At 6’1” 209, Chambers is one of the smallest heavyweights in the top 15. Despite being short and on the small side, Chambers makes up for it with his hand speed, good power and his aggressiveness on the inside.

Many people predicted that Chambers would lose to first Samuel Peter and then later on Alexander Dimitrenko. Chambers beat both fighters in back to back fights in 2009 to earn a title shot against Wladimir. Chambers still has his work cut out for him against the 6’6” Klitschko.

Recently when the two fighters had their pictures taken in the German stadium, Chambers looked miniature compared to the giant Klitschko. It wasn’t just the height. Klitschko has the much bigger frame and looks much bigger than Chambers. This may not mean anything, because historically shorter, smaller heavyweights have been able to beat big heavyweights.

However, the bigger heavyweights with skill and power, like Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe and the Klitschko brothers, have been able to dominate their much smaller foes at an alarming rate.

Wladimir isn’t unbeatable, as his knockout losses to Corrie Sanders, Ross Purity and Lamon Brewster will show you. But Chambers isn’t a big puncher like those fighters, and if he wants to beat Klitschko, he’s going to have to find some power somewhere that will enable him to get a victory. The chances are slim that Chambers will be able to out-box Wladimir.

Chambers doesn’t have a long reach and his jab isn’t the greatest. If the fight winds up going to a decision, the odds are stacked heavily in Wladimir’s favor to win by a lopsided decision. For Chambers to win, he has to work his way past Wladimir’s jab, get inside and try to land a hard enough shot to put Klitschko down for the count. Chambers won’t have much time to get his shots in before Klitschko grabs him in a tight clinch, because that’s what he likes to do to shorter fighters like Chambers.

The good thing that Chambers has going for him is his speed. He’s fast and is capable of punching hard at times. However, he didn’t look good in losing to Russian Alexander Povetkin in a 12 round decision loss in 2008. Chambers started off well in that fight, landing some huge shots, bruising both of Povetkins’s eyes early on.

Unfortunately, Chambers faded badly after the 4th and was outworked the rest of the way by Povetkin. In fairness to Chambers, he was heavier at that time, weighing 219 and fighting as if the extra weight was affecting him negatively. Chambers took off the extra weight recently as he trimmed down to 209, and seems to be fighting well at that weight.

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