By Jim Dower: The fight between Eddie Chambers (35-1, 18 KO’s) and IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (53-3, 47 KO’s) is only hours away.

Chambers, 27, will be taking a big step up in trying to capture Klitschko’s titles when he enters the ring at the ESPRIT arena, in Düsseldorf, Germany. There is expected to be 51,000 people in attendance tonight, which will be by far the biggest crowd that Chambers has ever fought in front of during his 10-yearr pro career.

There is really little in the past that would indicate that Chambers will do well tonight against the 6’6” Klitschko. Chambers struggled badly in between a grossly out of shape Samuel Peter last year, nicking the fight by a narrow 10 round majority decision. I saw the fight and scored it a draw. And this was a 265 pound Peter who fought sporadically because of the massive amount of weight he was lugging around on his short frame.

In his other fights against top level opposition, Chambers failed miserably against Alexander Povetkin, getting badly out-worked in a 12 round decision loss in January 2008. Chambers fought well for about four rounds, then tired out and took a beating for the next eight rounds. He says he lost his concentration and lost confidence, but it looked to me like Chambers just got tired.

Chambers was fighting at 219 at that time, which really isn’t that heavy for heavyweight, but it made Chambers look noticeably fat. Recently, Chambers took off 10 pounds of blubber and defeated Alexander Dimitrenko by a 12 round majority decision last year in July. Chambers came into that fight weighing 208, a good weight for him. He’s been waiting since that fight for a bout against Klitschko, and didn’t want to take any chances of fighting a tune-up and possibly losing. Chambers weighed in at 209 at yesterday’s weigh-in for the Klitschko fight.

This means that Chambers will be coming into the fight tonight weighing roughly 35 pounds less than the 244 pound Klitschko. Chambers doesn’t think it’s going to be a big deal because he was able to defeat the 6’7” 250 pound Dimitrenko in his last fight a year ago. I think it is going to be a big deal. Klitschko is a lot better fighter than Dimitrenko. There’s no comparison between the two, really, other than the fact that he and Dimitrenko both come from Ukraine and are tall heavyweights.

Klitschko hits a lot harder than Dimitrenko, has one punch knockout power in both hands, has one of the best jabs in the heavyweight division and doesn’t fight on the inside. Chambers won’t be able to fight at close range against Klitschko like he did against Dimitrenko. That’s just not going to happen. Klitschko always ties up his opponents when they get in close.

That doesn’t mean that Chambers won’t be able to have his moments in which he lands a punch or two before being clinched, but it does show that Chambers won’t be able to work for extended amounts of time like he did against Dimitrenko. I expect Chambers to have serious problems with Klitschko’s jab. That’s going to be his first problem. Just trying to get past Klitschko’s jab will be a major ordeal for Chambers.

The second problem will be the right hands that Klitschko will be following his jabs with. If Chambers gets hit with too many of those shots, I can’t see him standing for long. Klitschko will have all that size coming behind his shots. He’s able to generate a lot of leverage on his punches because of his height and it’s hard for his opponents to take those kinds of shots for long when he starts getting busy.

Third, if Klitschko uses his powerful left hook in this fight, I don’t see the bout lasting long. Klitschko’s left hook is perhaps his hardest punch and best overall weapon. He doesn’t use it very much nowadays because it leaves him open for getting hit with right hands. However, if Klitschko does use that punch in this fight, I can’t see Chambers being able to take too many of them without going down for the count.

Prediction: Klitschko by 6th round TKO