HEAVYWEIGHT MINI-TOURNAMENT ON TAP FOR BOXING
Posted on | November 5, 2007 | No Comments
BY: PATRICK MCELLIGOTT
A mini-tournament in the heavyweight division will decide who gets to challenge Wladimir Klitschko for his #1 position. Last weekend, Alexander Povetkin TKOed Chris Byrd in 11 exciting rounds, and this weekend, Eddie
Chambers took a dull decision over Calvin Brock. The fight between Povetkin and Chambers could be interesting.
Povetkin is a medium-sized heavyweight, by today’s standards, at 6’ 2″ and 226 lbs. He was among the top amateurs in the world from 2002 to ’04, when he won the Olympic Super Heavyweight championship.
His record was 13-0, with 10 KOs going into the Byrd fight. The most recognizable names on his record (for US fans) was Larry Donald (42-4-3), who he decisioned in 10 rounds. Povetkin has fought against a couple large
heavyweights: Donald came in at 245 lbs, and Povetkin TKOed 255-lb David Bostice in two rounds.
Byrd, at 6’ and 210 lbs, is small for today’s division. He is also 37 years old. It’s interesting to remember that when Chris was an amateur star, he was a middleweight, fighting guys like William Joppy.
In his professional career, the talented southpaw had captured the WBO and IBF “titles.” And there was a time when he could compete against almost any active heavyweight. But those days are long behind Byrd, who last really had an undisputed win in a big fight in August of 2001, when he decisioned David Tua.
Byrd was given a draw against Andrew Golota in April, ’04, and won a controversial split decision over Jameel McCline seven months later.
In April, ’06, he suffered a one-sided and violent loss to Wladimir Klitschko in 7 rounds. His only fight between this and his last TKO loss was against non-contender Paul Marinaccio.
Reports indicate that Byrd put up a valiant effort against his younger foe. But Povetkin was too much for him. Chris has since announced his retirement. He has been one of the most decent men in the sport, and had uncanny defensive skills when he had his reflexes.
Eddie Chambers is a wild card in the heavyweight division. He is only 25 years old, and at 6’1″ and 214 lbs, looks like he could comfortably make the cruiserweight division. But he is intent upon fighting for the bigger
paychecks in the heavyweight division.
Chambers has defensive skills that are not unlike a younger Chris Byrd’s, and he has done well against some big heavyweights. He TKOed 248-lb Derrick Rossy in 7 rounds in February, then decisioned Dominick Guinn in May.
Guinn, who has recently not been inspirational in the ring, actually seemed prepared for and focused on beating Chambers. But he could not land two clean shots in a row – something that one anticipated that Calvin Brock
would have seen when reviewing films as he prepared for Chambers.
However Brock, who like Guinn had seemed to be among the most promising of the heavyweight prospects in recent times, entered the ring weighing over 240 lbs. It is fair to ask if he had seriously prepared for the fight.
Brock, who was 31-1 with 23 KOs before losing to Chambers, had been impressive in working his way up the division in 2005-06. But he did not seem willing to risk his undefeated record against the top five contenders
in the division.
He did come off the canvas to decision McCline, and won an intense KO over Zuri Lawrence. In June ’06, he decisioned Timor Ibragimov, and then challenged Wladimir Klitschko. I felt he did good for three rounds against
Klitschko, but by the 5th round, he was unable to get out of the way of Klitschko’s powerful jab. Two rounds later, he was knocked out.
Brock did not seem to recover psychologically from the knockout loss. He had a one round knockout over Ralph West (17-10-1), and then an 8 round decision over Alex Gonzales.
Against Chambers, Brock looked overweight, under confident, and slow. He did not take advantage of his size, and allowed Chambers to walk at him with his hands at his hips. When Brock did throw punches, Chambers leaned back at his waist, then countered with fast but not particularly hard punches.
It will be interesting to see Chambers vs Povetkin. On paper, it is a pretty even match, but I expect Povetkin will take advantage of Chambers’ errors in the ring. The key for a mid-sized heavyweight is to bend at the waist, and jab to Chambers’ belly, and to put combinations together behind that. Slide your front foot in then, between his feet. What can he do? Lean backwards? He’s not particularly fast on his feel, or gifted with footwork like an Ali. Leaning backwards in that situation limits his options.
If Brock had done that, he would have been in position to throw body punches, lifting under Chambers’ exposed ribs. If Chambers moves his elbows down to protect his sides, rip punches to the head. Easier said that done,
of course, but it forces Chambers out of his comfort zone.
The best thing about Povetkin vs Chambers is it will give us a good measure of how good each of them are. At this point, they both have the potential to make their mark in the heavyweight division. It’s the type of fight that is good for the sport.