By Eric Thomas: Wladimir Klitschko victims Eddie Chambers (36-2, 18 KO’s) and Tony Thompson (36-2, 24 KO’s) will reportedly be fighting an IBF heavyweight title eliminator bout in August with this winner of the fight becoming Wladimir’s mandatory challenger. That’s all well good except that Wladimir has already knocked out both of these guys and if he never fought them again it would be too soon, especially with Chambers.

Wladimir stopped Chambers in the 12th round in a vicious left hook knockout that left Chambers unconscious in March of last year. Chambers, 29, has fought only once since then, beating fringe contender Derric Rossy by a 12 round decision in February. Thompson, 39, was stopped in the 11th round by Wladimir in 2008. Thompson has won five fights since then, albeit against 2nd tier opposition.

Chambers will be a step up for the 6’5 southpaw Thompson. I do think that Thompson will win this fight, but that’s only because Chambers doesn’t have the size or power to deal with Thompson’s long jabs and right hooks. Thompson, never fast to begin with, looked even slower in his last fight, stopping Maurice Harris in the 3rd round in May. He slapped his way to a win over Harris. It wasn’t pretty but the results were positive for Thompson.

Wladimir had problems beating Thompson in 2008, and took a lot of shots from him until Wladimir’s trainer Emanuel Steward lit a fire under Wladimir to get him to finally go after Thompson and take him out. In a rematch, you can bet that Wladimir would pounce on Thompson immediately because he knows if he lets him stick around for long he’ll take shots because of Thompson’s long arms. Wladimir fought poorly against him until Steward motivated him enough to get a stoppage.

Chambers did badly against Wladimir and never really did land much of anything in the fight. Like the Thompson bout, Wladimir wasn’t able to get a knockout until Steward pressured him to go after Chambers in the 12th and take him out.