POVETKIN OUTPOINTS LACKLUSTER CHAMBERS
A four man, three fight tournament to name the number one contender to the IBF Heavyweight Championship held by Wladimir Klitschko concluded in Berlin, Germany over the weekend when undefeated Russian Alexander Povetkin faced undefeated American Eddie Chambers. Despite being virtually unknown players in the dismal heavyweight scene, both men notched quality victories in order to reach the elimination bout, Povetkin stopping Chris Byrd and Chambers earning a split decision against Calvin Brock, and were set for the biggest fight of their young careers.
The winner of the bout between Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov next month will be from the former U.S.S.R. His mandatory opponent, determined on Saturday afternoon and telecast to the United States later in the evening, will claim a similar origin.
Povetkin, who only had fourteen fights worth of professional experience coming into the IBF eliminator, boosted his resume and retained his undefeated status with another impressive win, though he had to work for this one more than many would have thought. Having already defeated the tricky Byrd, albeit a faded version of the former heavyweight titlist, Povetkin was expected to handle Chambers, considered, like Byrd, more of a boxer than a puncher, with relative ease. The fight was more difficult than anticipated, however, as Povetkin found himself behind on points early and had to out hustle the slick American to a decision victory.
A good right-left combination from Chambers highlighted an insipid first round. Povetkin tried his best to negate the clean shots by pounding some of his own into a covering Chambers’ gloves, but Chambers smiled at his efforts and responded with a clean left-right to the Russian’s face. Chambers continued popping Povetkin with jabs and lead straight rights in the second round, but his punches lacked the power to do any real damage. He was scoring points off flush shots, but Povetkin, firing punches in bunches into Chambers’ gloves, was establishing himself as the aggressor. Chambers changed that tune when he landed a crunching right hand to the side of Povetkin’s head. Both men closed the round throwing with conviction, but it was Chambers whose punches found their mark, and he walked back to the corner with his chin high and plenty to be proud of with two rounds in the bank.
Povetkin’s left eye began to swell almost immediately after absorbing the right. He responded by picking up his attack in the third round and catching Chambers with a lumbering right, but “Fast” Eddie proved his namesake when he countered with a picture perfect right of his own coming off a defensive shoulder roll. Povetkin then opted to work the body, but Chambers wasn’t finished done and landed several more solid rights. Chambers continued to find success when on the attack down the stretch of the round and was equally effective when counter-punching the pursuing Povetkin, closing out a dominant round and stretching his lead. Round four was much more competitive, but while Povetkin mostly lumbered through the motions of hitting gloves, Chambers fought in spurts and ripped the Russian with combinations, including a right-left in the waning moments that knocked Povetkin’s head back. Fighting in the center of the ring, Chambers was clearly the better fighter, outclassing Povetkin with his hand speed.
Realizing he was behind on the cards, Povetkin met Chambers with a body shot early in round five that prompted the first clinch of the fight, initiated by Eddie. From that point on, though, Chambers was the one landing virtually all of the clean punches, mixing in some to the body to nullify the work of Povetkin. The sixth round was the first Povetkin appeared to win decisively as he finally began landing clean right hands on Chambers, but while Eddie’s left eye began to swell, Povetkin’s left eye was beginning to close. Povetkin correctly stepped up his attack while Chambers’ work rate suddenly began to decrease. A good right hand at the bell wasn’t enough for the American to steal the round, after which his trainer, Buddy McGirt, became visibly upset, claiming Eddie was giving the fight away. McGirt’s words of panic would become the pattern for the night as Chambers slowly but surely started to believe them.
Povetkin continued to get off first over the next couple of rounds and caught Chambers pulling back with a big right hand in round seven. The eighth round was the most hotly contested of the fight as both men dedicated themselves to their combinations. Still, Povetkin remained the more active fighter while Chambers laid back and waited for his opportunities to shoot unanswered shots, giving up his early lead to a man who looked more tired than he did. Seeing the perilous trend his fighter was slipping into, McGirt wisely told Chambers he needed to win all four of the remaining rounds. Chambers must not have bought into McGirt’s opinion because, aside from some quality shots in the middle of round nine, he continued to sit and wait, content to cover up rather than beat Povetkin to the punch in the middle of the ring where he had controlled the first half of the fight. After a one-sided tenth round in Povetkin’s favor, Chambers’ corner men wondered whether something was wrong with their fighter while the voices in Povetkin’s corner commented on how easy the fight had become for their charge.
The championship rounds would clarify beyond a doubt the winner in what had been a close fight with many rounds difficult to score, and it was Povetkin who answered the bell for rounds eleven and twelve like a man seething to be champion while Chambers continued to wander through the motions. Povetkin punished Chambers with shots that finally began finding their way through the gloves throughout the eleventh round; in fact, the Russian threw about fifty more punches than did the American in one of the most important moments in the fight. The twelfth and final round was more of the same, Povetkin punching and Chambers covering up. The baffling count of only thirty punches fired in the championship rounds revealed that Eddie either had nothing left or felt his early lead was safe. Regardless of his condition, it was clear which fighter wanted it more.
The scoring did not reflect what appeared to be an even fight coming into the tenth round. Scorecards of 117-111, 119-109, and 116-112 in favor of Povetkin suggested a more lopsided fight than had taken place, but Chambers had little room for complaint, having refused to step up his attack when the bout was on the line. While the judges had apparently been torn between Chambers’ quality and Povetkin’s quantity of punches through the first six rounds, the last half of the fight required little more effort than putting a 10 next to Povetkin’s name and a 9 next to Chambers’ after each round. Though Povetkin, who seemed to plod through most of the fight, was far from impressive, Chambers turned out to be sorely lacking in the department of mental toughness. In Povetkin’s defense, it was revealed shortly after the fight that he had come into the title eliminator suffering from a bout with the flu. Chambers, on the other hand, had no excuse for his lackluster effort down the stretch, a lapse he will come to regret.
The one thing the heavyweight division needs more than anything else is consistency. While Povetkin looks far too green to become the top dog in his division, he deserves credit for constantly coming to fight. Based on the way the uninspired Chambers landed clean shots almost at will leads one to believe Povetkin would have been obliterated if he had been in with a true boxer-puncher heavyweight with some pop. Early on, the fight looked like it had the potential to be a mismatch for the Russian. His desire, however, is an intangible that could make him a threat to many of the top names in the division. As for Chambers, Eddie will be able to look at the tape and see that the fight was winnable all the way until the end. If he discovers how and why he ran out of gas and commitment, he could return to the heavyweight landscape as a viable opponent for any of the champions with his exceptional talent. On this night, though, both Povetkin and Chambers should be thankful they didn’t find themselves across the ring from Wladimir Klitschko, who may be next for Povetkin.
