Future bright for Chambers

Eddie Chambers gave the best performance of his career Saturday and has Wladimir Klitschko in his sights.

Eddie Chambers reinvented himself against Alexander Dimitrenko on Saturday in Germany and suddenly the future looks very bright.

Chambers, who had been dismissed as an effective, but boring boxer, dominated Alexander Dimitrenko to become the mandatory challenger for Wladimir Klitschko’s WBO heavyweight title, a matchup that would land him a seven-figure payday and the opportunity to rule the boxing world if he could pull an upset.

Klitschko is targeting Alexander Povetkin, the mandatory challenger for his IBF belt, in November or December, but no deal has been reached. The fight probably would take place in Germany, although the promoters have received offers from other European cities.

Chambers would be next in line, meaning he could face Klitschko in the spring if the big Ukrainian retains his title. If not, Chambers would be the mandatory challenger for Povetkin, who last year handed him his only loss.

That means that Chambers will probably take an interim fight rather than wait eight months or more to fight again. No opponent has been discussed.

“Right now we’ll see what happens next with Wladimir,” Dan Goossen, Chambers’ promoter, said on a conference call. “We’ll probably parallel what (Klitschko) does. We don’t want to keep Eddie out of action.”

Chambers (35-1, 18 knockouts) received rave reviews after the fight Saturday.

The Philadelphia fighter weighed-in at a career-low 205 pounds on Friday, making “Fast Eddie” faster than ever, and fought with a purpose he hadn’t displayed in other fights.

He outpointed former titleholder Sam Peter in his previous fight but heard the same criticism he’s heard much of his career, that he’s a reasonably effective boxer but puts fans to sleep with his tentative style.

On Saturday, he was a different fighter.

“I knew he was a tremendous challenger, with ability to box and tremendous size,” Chambers said on the conference all. “He was thought to be the next great heavyweight of this era. I felt I had to go in there and show the world that they’d been overlooking me.”

His game plan wasn’t complicated and he executed it perfectly.

“He tried to keep me outside with the jab in the beginning,” he said. “I just hit his arm out of the way. … I was able to get my jab in on him more than he could on me. I was jabbing my way in, not trying to get inside without throwing punches but to give him something to think about.

“I jabbed, threw combinations coming in. And when I got inside, I also did damage. I went into the teeth of the alligator but I had a knife on me and I stabbed him in the mouth. I went in there and dug it out.”

Chambers said he also felt like a new man at the lighter weight.

“I definitely felt more fluid,” he said. “I felt faster and, believe it or not, stronger. I prepared well for this fight. This was a whole different situation. That’s not to say I didn’t prepare against Peter. This is just a more-focused Eddie Chambers.”

Meanwhile, Vitali Klitschko and David Haye are near a deal to meet in September in Germany, according to Shelly Finkel, the Klitschkos’ U.S. representative. That means Goossen’s other heavyweight contender, Chris Arreola, probably will have to wait to meet the elder Klitschko.

The prospect of a fight between Arreola and Chambers, the two highest-rated American heavyweights, was raised on the conference call. Goossen said it’s possible – somewhere down the line.

“They’re going different directions right now,” he said of his two heavyweights. “Both are sitting at the No. 1 spot in their organizations. … Chris is on a mission to get Vitali; Eddie is on a mission to get Wladimir. … You can only imagine Chris Arreola and Eddie Chambers fighting in a unification after dethroning the two Russian giants. You might say the Americans are coming.”

The Klitschkos are from Ukraine. We’ll excuse Goossen, though. He’s excited about his good fortune.


Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com