The Heavyweight Champion of Dull
By: Andrew Harrison
Category: Uncategorized
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The heavyweight championship of the world used to be a big deal. Straight up.
Today? Well, today it’s kinda not much of a big deal any more. So much so in fact, that the generally recognised heavyweight champ (I say ‘generally’ due to the confusion attached to defining what actually constitutes a boxing champion these days) Wladimir Klitschko’s next title defence will not even be televised live in the US.
That’s quite damning, especially when one considers that his challenger, ‘Fast’ Eddie Chambers is an American and is in fact, the best big man the traditional home of the heavyweight championship has to offer right now.
The official line from HBO bigwig Kery Davis, is that scheduling issues forced the blackout (the fight takes place in a different time zone in Dusseldorf, Germany and conflicts with college basketball by all accounts) however you can bet your boots that if Chambers just happened to be the second coming of George Foreman, scheduling wouldn’t be an issue.
Truth is, the US have grown tired of watching poor representatives toiling away at the end of a Klitschko jab round after round, huffing and puffing until their houses are blown down. Tony Thompson, Hasim Rahman, Chris Arreola and Kevin Johnson, (the latter two were dealt with by the older, tougher brother, Vitali) came and succumbed, rather pathetically to be brutally honest, and they don’t often take losers to their bosoms too readily, our boxing brothers over the Atlantic.
The assumption of course, is that Eddie will deepen the shade of rouge his proud countrymen have been sporting in the face area of late.
On top of this, Wladimir is one hell of a boring fighter to watch, perhaps the dullest of all fighters to have been recognised as ‘the man’ at heavyweight. A hulking monster of a fellow, the gargantuan Ukrainian resembles a moving house as he strides to battle, his shoulders as wide as the gulf in class between himself and the guy waiting for him up in the ring. It’s when he gets there and the bell chimes that the problems start.
Wladimir just doesn’t like fighting too much.
Blessed with the physical gifts and boxing skills to make grown men shudder, the big guy prefers a more calculated approach. He jabs…….and jabs……and jabs some more. And if his opponent enters into a range which could see punches coming back his way, he holds. He wraps that poor little sucker up like a newborn baby in swaddling clothes.
The result? A very low chance of defeat. The bottom line? A performance so insipid, one stops yearning for a new Frazier or Tyson, and starts crossing digits for the second coming of Joe Bugner.
The funny thing is, Chambers is not a bad little fighter and despite looking like an impish child about to be chastened by his angry pops in the head to head pics, he could put a decent shift in on Saturday.
His trainer, Rob Murray is talking of getting inside Klitschko’s telegraph pole of a left to inflict damage inside. It’s the right strategy, yet whether Chambers, who has tallied knockout wins in only half of his fights has the power to threaten the champion should he enter Wlad’s forbidden zone, remains to be seen.
Chambers does have recent form against Soviet heavyweights with mixed results. In January 2008 he was soundly outpointed by Alexander Povetkin over twelve rounds in Berlin (in only Povetkin’s 15th contest). Chambers did have success however, especially early. “It was a complicated fight”, Povetkin admitted afterwards.
Eddie has undoubtedly improved since then, evident in his last performance when he whupped the Klitschko sized Alexander Dimitrenko in hostile German territory. A more svelte and seemingly better conditioned Chambers totally outboxed his Ivan Drago-like foe, forcing the referee to issue a standing count in the seventh before flooring the big man in the tenth en route to a decision win. It is this fight which Chambers supporters will summon when arguing for their guy’s chances against Wlad.
Whilst I can see Chambers boxing well enough within himself, I don’t believe it will be enough to oust Klitschko from his throne. He doesn’t appear powerful enough to get the big guy out of there and any success he has inside will be negated by the points Wlad racks up with his jab. Whilst Chambers tries to work in close, Klitschko will crowd him with his tree trunk levers and lean all over ‘Fast’ Eddie, tiring the challenger, which may in turn dampen his ambition as the fight progresses.
The size advantage Klitschko holds over Chambers (some 5 inches in height and 30 lbs in weight) will undoubtedly be a factor here and it’s this rather than any discernible edge in skill which will allow Klitschko to notch up another points victory.
The only hope is that it’s not dire. That’s how bad things have become. Even Emanuel Steward, a man not averse to grabbing headlines with big talk and hyperbole about his fighters has given up on Klitschko. As we prepare for another one sided and uninspiring victory, comfort can be sought in the fact that with each passing title defence, we edge ever closer to the end of Wladimir’s reign.
Unfortunately, I can’t offer you anything in the way of a decent punt either, there’s nothing at all which takes the eye, with Klitschko an uninviting 1/8 favourite at best. Klitschko’s method of victory can’t even be banked on. One feels that if he fought with greater ambition he’d squash the American, yet he could so easily settle for another jab-athon win depending which way the Dusseldorf wind is blowing.
Chambers can be backed at around 6/1 with 14/1 offered on him gaining a decision should you be brave enough to believe that he’s this decade’s Buster Douglas.
6 comments on “The Heavyweight Champion of Dull”
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ZZZZzzzzzzzzz…. oh sorry, is it over? Thank God. Hope you didn’t sit through that dross Haz. If you missed it, let me fill you in. Chambers gets tagged in round 2 and is hurt. From round 3 onwards he goes on the back foot, as Wlad jabs, jabs, jabs and…. on yeah, jabs some more. Great left hook finish from Wlad, but really that was like giving someone a chocolate cake after pulling their teeth out.
I don’t blame Wlad though. He is what he is and he ain’t changing for nobody. It’s up to the challengers to take it to him, but alas it seems most of these guys seem content to just stay on the outside and allow themselves to be jabbed silly.
Wouldn’t it be great if Bernard Hopkins let Tyson borrow his fountain of youth so he can come back and clean up once more?
Regrettably I did Dave. That was truly awful and it’s probably a good idea I keep my hands in my pocket today in case I write a one word fight report which just says…..”shit”……..
I think there’s something slightly cowardly in a man with that many advantages fighting in that manner against a guy like Eddie Chambers, although I’m not sure if that’s just an overreaction due to how depressed I’m feeling after another awful, banal, tedious and frustrating sparring session.
When I think Tyson-Klitschko, I see that beautiful right hand Mike landed on an upright Holmes which felled him like an old oak. He’d have a field day with someone as timid as Wlad.
I’m not even hoping for anyone that good, a young Shannon Briggs would do it, someone with good chin, a hard punch and a devil may care attitude. They’d frighten him to death.
I had to write a report on it as none of my 411mania colleagues were “fortunate” enough to watch it as it wasn’t shown on American TV.
Awful undercard as well. Dire stuff all round. Here’s hoping Haye does a Tua-job on Ruiz to send a message to the boxing world because I’m beginning to lose faith in him as well.
I’m worried about Haye, since Valuev the man’s seems to have attended way more red carpet social events than is healthy for a fighter. Bill Dettloff is actually picking Ruiz to stop him late and he’s a pretty shrewd judge.
Haye’s dilemma reminds me of when Nigel Benn moved up to super middle. His diminished power meant he had to box more carefully whilst trying to conserve energy, every fight was a risk for him up there. Haye’s unlikely to be able to blow these guys away and due to his suspicious stamina and questionable chin, outboxing these guys will be tough, especially a busy, scrappy little lug like Ruiz.
This next fight will tell us a whole lot about his chances with Wlad or Vitali.
Do you think Haye is serious about tackling the K Bros though Haz? Me thinks he’s happy to rest on his WBA bauble for the foreseeable future. I hear he has the option of going for a rematch with Valuev and I’d sooner have all my teeth pulled out than watch that tripe again.
Interesting that Dettloff is tipping Ruiz. Can’t see it myself, nor can I see Haye doing that “Tua-job” I’m hoping for. I see Haye stopping him in about eight or nine. I just hope it isn’t another dreary Ruiz hug-athon. In fainess to Johnny boy though, he’s been holding a lot less recently and has been throwing more punches than we’re used to seeing from him.
Hopefully he doesn’t revert to type against Haye.
I think he’d take a Klitschko fight tomorrow however the Sauerlands have options on him from the Valuev fight so I think we’re more likely to see him in a rematch with big Nikolai than in with Wlad or Vitali. That’s even less appealing than seeing him in with Hopkins.
I genuinely believe he’d rather face Wlad and I’d give him a real shot in that one. If Wlad was scared to take one from Chambers, he’ll need to don brown shorts when Haye starts throwing big right hands.
I think Haye should be ok, his speed is key and if a fighter starts quickly with Ruiz, they can usually do enough early to keep him in check for the remainder of the fight.
Haye needs a knockout to make a statement and make folk clamour for a Klitschko fight. I’m not sure he’ll get it though, the way he’s talking he may go for another Valuev type performance which does nothing for anybody.