By Jim Dower Wladimir Klitschko scored a sensational 12th round knockout win over Eddie Chambers tonight in Dusseldorf, Germany to retain his IBF/WBO heavyweight titles. Fighting in front of 51,000 fans, Wladimir put an end to a one-sided fight with a big sweeping left hook to the head of the 27-year-old Chambers in the 12th round with only five seconds to go in the fight. Chambers hit the canvas in a heap, badly hurt from the knockout punch.

The fight was stopped immediately and Chambers corner poured into the ring to check on their hurt fighter. Earlier in the fight, Wladimir had badly hurt Chambers with a massive right hand in the 2nd round. The shot staggered Chambers, causing him to clinch Wladimir to prevent him from throwing any more big shots. Chambers seemed intent on upsetting Klitschko in the 2nd round, throwing him to the canvas at point in the round and picking him up his shoulders. Instead of getting upset about it and letting it get to him, Klitschko stayed composed and continued to throw right hands and jabs at Chambers.

In the 3rd and 4th rounds, Chambers had problems getting inside to land his shots. Wladimir worked his powerful jab from the outside and did a good job of not letting Chambers get too close to him. When Chambers did try to get near Wladimir, the tall 6’6” Ukrainian would stick out his long left hand and hold it out to keep Chambers from drawing near him. Chambers was still able to land a hard shot every now and then, but he had problems putting his punches together because Wladimir was clinching him when he got close. The referee never warned or took points away from Klitschko despite the fact that he grabbed Chambers frequently when he got near.

In rounds five through seven, Klitschko stayed active with his hard jabs, nailing Chambers in the face with them repeatedly. The American fighter seemed uneasy and not sure what to do to get close to Klitschko. Chambers was eating a lot of jabs at this point in the fight and seemed uncomfortable with the power from Wladimir’s right hand shots.

In the 8th round, Klitschko connected with a big right hand to the head of Chambers, but didn’t go after him to add any additional big shots. Chambers continued to land a few shots here and there, but wasn’t able to get enough power on them to really make much of a difference.

Little changed in the 10th and 11th rounds, as Chambers continued to be coming up short in trying to land a big enough shot to do damage. By this time, Chambers was well behind in the fight and needed a knockout to win. In the meantime, Wladimir’s trainer Emanuel Steward seemed upset with the progress of the fight, and urged Wladimir to take Chambers out.

This is exactly what Wladimir did, as he really put in a big effort in the 12th round to go for a knockout. He came out throwing massive bombs from the start of the round and troubled Chambers throughout until finally catching him with a laser left hook with five seconds left that dropped Chambers like a sack of potatoes on the canvas. The bout was quickly stopped.