HBO’s late-night boxing series kicks off the new year with a heavyweight showdown when HBO BOXING AFTER DARK: ALEXANDER POVETKIN VS. EDDIE CHAMBERS is seen SATURDAY, JAN. 26 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT), from the Tempodrome in Berlin, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team of Bob Papa, Max Kellerman and Lennox Lewis will be ringside for the event, which will be available in HDTV, as well as closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino..
Alexander Povetkin
Povetkin vs. Chambers: Does Alexander Have Enough Speed To Handle Eddie?
This Saturday night, #2 rated heavyweight in the IBF, undefeated Alexander Povetkin (14-0, 11 KOs) goes up against what I personally consider to be the best American heavyweight Eddie Chambers (30-0, 16 KOs) when they meet in the International Boxing Federation elimination fight at Tempodrom, Kreuzberg, in Berlin, Germany. Most people feel that Povetkin, 28, the former 2004 Olympic super heavyweight boxing champion, to be the one that will come out on top and thus move on to a late 2008 showdown with the winner of Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov.
Povetkin, however, has faced mostly limited competition in his short career, most recently defeating Chris Byrd by an 11th round stoppage on October 27, 2007. Povetkin looked vulnerable against Byrd, and was repeatedly hit with straight left hands all night long. Povetkin had trouble hitting the badly slowed 37 year-old Byrd, and looked even slower than he did. In contrast, IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, made it look easy blasting apart Byrd a year earlier on April 22nd, 2006. Of course, Povetkin isn’t fighting Klitschko this Saturday, and will only have to deal with the speedy and elusive Chambers.
Chambers vs. Povetkin On January 26th
Unbeaten heavyweight contenders American Eddie Chambers (30-0, 16 KOs) and Russian Alexander Povetkin (14-0, 11 KOs) meet on January 26th in Berlin, Germany, in the final International Boxing Federation elimination bout with the winner to face IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. The bout will be shown on HBO, a rarity for European bouts because most aren’t shown in the United States.
Is It Too Soon For Povetkin To Take On Wladimir Klitschko?
After watching last night’s IBF tournament eliminator bout between Alexander Povetkin (14-0, 11 KOs) and former heavyweight champion Chris Byrd, I have to admit that I have my doubts about whether Povetkin is ready to fight International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (49-3, 45 Kos). Of course, Povetkin still has to beat the winner of Eddie Chambers vs. Calvin Brock in order to get to a match with Wladimir, I’m pretty sure that Povetkin will beat either of those two fighters, perhaps quite easily. Wladimir, however, is another matter altogether for Povetkin.
Povetkin Stops Byrd in 11th Round TKO
Heavyweight challenger Alexander Povetkin (14-0, 11 KOs) won a hard fought grueling battle tonight, stopping former two-time heavyweight champion Chris Byrd in the 11th round at the Messehalle, Erfurt, in Thüringen, Germany. Both fighter’s faces were badly swollen and cut from the many blows they landed on each other over the course of the bout. The fight was pretty even until the 11th round when Povetkin hurt Byrd with a hard combination. He followed it up with more shots on the inside, winging hooks and backing Byrd up. However, Byrd was fighting back effectively, landing sharp combinations on the inside when his father, Joe Byrd, suddenly threw in the towel after Byrd got backed into a corner.
It seemed like a foolish move, but I wasn’t really surprised because Byrd’s father had done a poor job, I think, in his corner, giving him bad advice and forgetting important things, like putting his mouthpiece in before sending him out to fight. Povetkin looked decent but not anywhere near the amount of hype that has been strewn about by many of his fans. He dished out a lot of punishment, but he’s not a really heavy puncher and had to rely on throwing lots of punches. He had major problems all fight long landing his short punches, as when he would come in side, Byrd would dodge his shots, and hit him with fast punches to the head.
Povetkin Byrd: Is This Fight A Mistake For Byrd?
Former two-time heavyweight champion (40-3-1, 21 KOs) Chris Byrd takes on Alexander Povetkin tomorrow night in Germany as part of the four-man elimination tournament for the rights to take on International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2008. However, why Byrd has opted to fight in the elimination tournament is a looming question, because he’s already been beaten twice by Wladimir Klitschko, both bouts being one-sided beat downs. Clearly, Byrd is bright enough to see that he would stand a much better chance, albeit with less financial reward, by facing one of the other three heavyweight champions – Sultan Ibragimov, Oleg Maskaev/Samuel Peter or Ruslan Chagaev – all of which are much easier opponents than Wladimir and Povetkin.
Byrd vs. Povetkin: Does Chris Have Enough Left To Beat Alexander?
Former WBO/IBF heavyweight champion Chris Byrd (40-3-1, 21 KOs) goes up against Alexander Povetkin 13-0, 10 KOs), former 2004 Olympics Gold medal winner in the super heavyweight, this Saturday iat the Messehalle, Erfurt, in Thüringen, Germany. The bout is a box off for the fight to fight IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. At 28, Povetkin is considered by many to the the best heavyweight prospect in the division, despite being somewhat undersized at only 6’2. He doesn’t have a lot of power, either, but he makes up for it by throwing a lot of punches and avoiding the incoming fire from his opponents. At this early point in his career, Povetkin appears to be being brought along a bit too fast for his own good, because he doesn’t seem to be even near Wladimir Klitschko in ability, size or power, something that will be found out should Povetkin get by Byrd on Saturday.