Prediction: Chambers by 5th round knockout over Klitschko

By Boxing News - 03/20/2010 - Comments

Image: Prediction: Chambers by 5th round knockout over KlitschkoBy Dave Lahr: If Wladimir Klitschko had a chin, he’d something special. He just doesn’t have the chin to be a great one I hate to say. Eddie Chambers is stepping into tonight’s fight with Klitschko as a huge underdog. Few people think that the small 6’1” 209 pound Chambers will win.

I’ve seen both fighters compete on a number of different occasions and know what they’re both capable of doing in the right, and I see the quickness of Chambers being the decisive factor in this fight. Klitschko is all arms and legs, a clumsy heavyweight for the most part.

Wladimir is like a cannon with a misplaced gun sight. Klitschko misses with his big shots more than he lands. Wladimir is stumbling around the ring, missing with his biggest shots; Chambers will be on top of him, throwing laser precise shots to the head and body and keeping Wladimir under a steady stream of fire. If this was a heavyweight who had a halfway decent chin, it wouldn’t be so bad.

Taking Chambers’ weak shots wouldn’t be a big deal then. But Wladimir doesn’t have a good chin, doesn’t have good stamina and is incredibly clumsy on his feet. He reminds me of a child on roller skates for the first time, stumbling around the ring, tripping over everyone near him and his own two feet. It takes Klitschko nearly the entire fight before he gets his coordination together enough to land a big enough punch to get his opponent out of there.

The problem the way I see it is that Chambers will decide matters well before Wladimir gets his act together and lands one of his big shots. While Wladimir is stumbling around trying to put together a big shot, Chambers will be raking him with steady fire to the head and chin, giving him all kinds of problems. Klitschko isn’t used to being hit very much and will react negatively by probably going down two or three times.

To his credit, Klitschko always gets back up to his feet and continues to fight. But it won’t be any use in this fight. Chambers is much faster and will stay in tight where Wladimir won’t be able to use his long reach to throw bombs. Klitschko never learned how to throw an uppercut to save his life. And that’s going to be a problem. Had he put in the hard work to learn how to throw an uppercut, he perhaps would be okay tonight against Chambers, because he could then slaughter Fast Eddie on the inside just as he could from the outside.

But Wladimir hasn’t learned how to throw an uppercut, hasn’t done his homework and will get literally butchered like a steer on the inside by Chambers. I see this going very badly for Wladimir. Once he starts getting knocked around the ring by Chambers, Wladimir’s trainer Emanuel Steward will commence with the lecturing and pleading in between rounds. He’ll tell Wladimir to stay on the outside, actually begging Wladimir to do so to keep Chambers from beating him up on the inside.

Wladimir, however, will have a dazed look in his eyes, and won’t really be listening. Instead, he’ll be focused on the specter across the ring from him, waiting to dish out more punishment to the tall Ukrainian. Wladimir will then walk out for the 5th round and will get hit with an avalanche of punches from Chambers while trying to turn around and cover up like a school boy.

While bent over with his back facing Chambers, Wladimir will get hit with a big uppercut and will be sent down for the count. While on the canvas, Wladimir will crawl to towards his corner, looking for help. Steward will just look at Wladimir and sign. The fight will then be mercifully stopped by the referee and Chambers will be the new world champion.



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