They say the good big man always will beat the good little man. But that famous quotation does not always hold true throughout the history of heavyweight boxing, as a most superior fighter named Lennox Lewis lost matches to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman. And comparably, Wladimir Klitschko was defeated by Lamon Brewster and Corrie Sanders. Eddie Chambers presents an interesting challenge for this duel. Despite size, strength and experience disadvantages, the American has spoken with and carried an impressive attitude of strong self-confidence up to this point.
Chambers insists he will decisively beat Klitschko. Chambers believes that his new discipline to training and nutrition, improved performances in recent bouts and his superb speed and reflexes will be enough to overcome the complex arsenal of a prime 33-year-old Klitschko. Yes, Chambers demonstrated excellent ring saavy to surprisingly defeat much bigger Alexander Dimitrenko but the incomparable speed and experience of Wladimir is a totally different problem to solve.
I contacted an expert to share information about Chambers. Monte Barrett informed that the speed and techniques of Chambers are excellent, he is a very hard worker and drills repeatedly to perfect his form. But Barrett, who spent many hours in the ring and at training camps with Chambers also says the man from Philadelphia, “has no punch.” This will be an insurmountable problem for Chambers in this fight. Because even if Chambers did possess a knockout punch it is still very difficult to imagine him outpointing or defeating this current version of Klitschko who is on elite par with the most dominant champions in heavyweight history.
Renaldo Snipes, the man who almost conquered Larry Holmes for the heavyweight title in the 1980’s, said that the softest puncher he ever faced in his career was Tony Tubbs. He said the punches of Tubbs felt like a middleweight’s but it was “frustrating” for him because Tubbs threw so many of those slaps and he had a warrior’s mentality so it was not an easy fight. Tubbs actually won the controversial decision. Chambers though is six inches smaller than Klitschko.
But the clever Chambers has not risen to his #1 ranking status by connections or set-ups. He earned it. Chambers is too talented and skilled to be an easy win for Klitschko. His exceptional speed, subtle head movements and tricky style should take a few rounds for the patient hunter Klitschko to figure out. I believe the key to this fight will be Klitschko’s jab and how he can use it keep Chambers off balance and to set up the big right or the lethal left hook. Klitschko is without question a class above Chambers in terms of experience and level of opposition. Dr. Steelhammer is bigger and stronger and perhaps equally as fast. It should be mentioned that there is also an edge to Klitschko these days – the Haye injury fiasco, the snub from HBO, the disrespect by the American media. These factors should all add up to produce an inspired and intense performance by Klitschko.
There is an additional note. Approximately five years ago Chambers sparred against Klitschko at the Kronk Gym in Detroit. According to a source who witnessed the sparring match, it was not a highly competitive clash, to put it mildly. While Chambers has certainly improved since that occasion, so too of course has Klitschko. When sparring sessions are one-sided as such, they are hard to discount. Now the stakes and pressure are greater. History, fortune and legacy are on the line. Klitschko will win again.
