By Sean McDaniel: Heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers (35-1, 18 KO’s) feels really confident about his chances at beating IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in their upcoming March 20th bout next year. In an interview with James Slater of East Side Boxing, Chambers had this to say about Klitschko: “Dimitrenko is a little more fluid than he [Klitschko] is, and he’s a more rounded fighter. Dimitrenko can fight on the inside and variuous things like that. He’s very athletic for a guy his size…I think the Dimitrenko fight was an excellent blueprint for me, and that fight gave me a look at what I will face when I get in there with Wladimir.”

Chambers, 27, defeated the weak punching Ukrainian Dimitrenko by a 12 round majority decision in July 2009, dominating most of the fight with his inside fighting. However, Chambers appears a little off when he’s comparing Klitschko and Dimitrenko. Although both are roughly the same height, standing at 6’6″ and 6’7″ and weighing 245 to 250. Both fighters move well and use their long reach.

However, that is really all they do have in common. Dimitrenko has a much weaker jab compared to Wladimir. Indeed, there’s really little comparison in terms of the strength of their jabs. Wladimir jabs much harder and is capable of dominating a fight with that punch alone. In contrast, Dimitrenko has a more pawing jab and doesn’t throw it hard enough to keep most of his opponents on the outside.

This is perhaps why Chambers found it so easy to stray inside and punish Dimitrenko in close. Likewise, Klitschko punches much harder with his left hooks and right hands. Wladimir is capable of ending a fight with one punch with either his left or fight hand if he catches his opponent just right. Wladimir doesn’t load up with every shot like, say, Mike Tyson, but when he does put a lot of power in his shots, he has extraordinary power. Dimitrenko, however, is a much lighter hitting fighter.

He didn’t have the strength in his shots to keep Chambers on the outside. And when Chambers did come in close, instead of grabbing him and holding, like Wladimir would typically do in a similar circumstance, Dimitrenko often covered up like as sparring partner. This allowed Chambers to fire away with shots and not worry about being grabbed or punched back.

Chambers sees his mobility as being a factor in his favor against Wladimir, and points out that many of Klitschko’s prior opponents didn’t move well and didn’t try hard to get inside on him. “They were too concerned with they’d be getting hit with what they (the Klitschkos) would do in the fight. But I’m different in that. I’ll make them miss,” Chambers says.