by James Slater –- Klitschko-Chambers photo gallery by Pavel Terekhov -– Tonight in Germany, Ring magazine, IBF and WBO heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko continued his dominance over the division with a devastating 12th-round KO over talented challenger “Fast” Eddie Chambers.
Landing a perfect lead left hook to Chamber’s head as the 27-year-old from Philly was in a corner, “Dr Steel Hammer” saw his opponent slump to the canvas, totally out, as the dying seconds of the fight ticked by. Scoring one of the most eye-catching KO’s of his pro career, the 33-year-old won at the 2-minutes and 55-second mark of the very last round.
Klitschko, who really does look like he is at his peak right now, improved to 54-3(48). Chambers, who tried his best tonight, fell to 35-2(18).
Looking more aggressive than usual in the early going, the defending champion almost got the job done in the 2nd-round, when he badly buckled the knees of Chambers with a punishing right hand to the head that went through the challenger’s highly held guard. Klitschko, seeing his man hurt, really went for the stoppage, but Chambers managed to fire back with a couple of punches and he made it through the round.
Excitement-wise, the 2nd-round was the highlight until the brutal finish. The German fans seemed to enjoy the spectacle, and though he spent large periods of the fight covering up and appearing to do little else, the vastly smaller challenger came to fight. But at 6’1″ compared to almost 6’7″ for Klitschko, Chambers was simply unable to get anything going for anything other than brief periods..
Klitschko’s left jab was a most impressive weapon tonight; on target, fluent and hard as it was all through the contest. The champion also fired in some ramrod straight right hands upstairs – some of which Chambers blocked, others of which landed – and Klitschko also used his left hook to good effect. On a few occasions in the fight Chambers was able to go over Klitschko’s left hand and score with a right, while at other times he was also able to land to the body, but “Fast” Eddie’s success rate was poor overall. A busted right glove that had to be replaced in the challenger’s corner gave Chambers a rest at the end of the 9th-round, and the huge crowd made a lot of noise.
Both men came out in a sprightly manner after the brief time-out, and the action was good to watch in the 10th. Here again, though, Klitschko landed with the lion’s share of the effective punches. Still, Chambers was showing a few more moves now, and he was proving a more tricky target for the champion to pin down.
Looking like being on his way to winning via a points shutout, Klitschko was nevertheless reprimanded by an unhappy Emanuel Steward at the conclusion of the later rounds.
“You can’t win by another bullshit decision,” yelled Steward in the closing stages of the fight. “This is gonna be another Ibragimov!”
Steward of course knew his fighter was in no danger of losing, he simply feared the media backlash that followed Wladimir’s awfully dull points win over Sultan Inbragimov a few years back. After being told to go out and close the show, Klistchko did just what his trainer asked of him.
Still fresh and full of energy in the 12th and final round, Klitschko put the pedal to the metal – and how! Dominating the round with left jabs and right hands, the champion then let loose with that cracking lead left hook to the head. Chambers fell in slow motion and he was in bad shape as soon at the shot landed. For a few worrying seconds, fears for the nice guy’s well-being flashed through one’s mind, but thankfully Eddie was okay; even congratulating Klitschko for his win soon afterwards.
Tonight’s fight, barring the stunning ending, was largely a dull affair, but I have long since stopped criticising the Klitschkos for not giving us thrills and spills each time out. They both keep on winning and, judging by tonight’s showing (I never had Wladimir losing a single round), “Dr. Steel Hammer” will continue to do so.
David Haye will surely disagree, but I have a feeling Wladimir may even retire without suffering another loss. Yes, he is that good!