Another American Challenger Loses his Shot at the Heavyweight Championship to a Klitschko
The domination of the heavyweight division by the Klitschko brothers continues, as Wladimir Klitschko dominated his bout against American contender Eddie Chambers before stopping him in the closing seconds of the bout. Klitschko was sweeping the fight from beginning to end in a performance that was not totally dissimiliar from the Pacquiao vs. Clottey contest from a week prior.
Unfortunately for American fans and for Chambers himself, he simply was outclassed. Or perhaps more realistically he was out-sized. While he was reasonably effective avoiding most of Wlad’s power throughout the fight, he was never able to mount his own offense. He found out what many others have found out in the ring as well… it’s simply harder than it seems to get inside on Klitschko’s powerful jab and right hand.
Klitschko seemed to be cruising to a 120-108 style unanimous decision until the waning seconds of the twelfth and final round. He crushed Chambers with a left hook to the chin, sending him down to the canvas where he laid lying with the fight officially called off at 2:55 of the 12th.
For the heavyweight division, it lends ever more importance to either the prospects of somebody like Odlanier Solis rising to be able to compete with the brothers, or with the two men facing each other in the ring. At this point the division is nothing more than a 1-2 of Klitschko’s, and a completely secondary or tertiary class of guys they have beaten down, or inevitably will.
For Eddie Chambers, perhaps it signals that it’s time to make a move to the cruiserweight division. He weighed in at a slim and trim 209 pounds for his bout against Wlad, which means that just another 9 pounds would get him down to the division. Without the super-heavies lurking around, one would have to think that Fast Eddie’s speed, defensive skill and crisp punching could immediately send him near the top of the division. However, with Wladimir and Vitali at heavyweight, he’s staring straight at two massive mountains he’ll likely never be able to climb.
