Chambers tops Peter to climb the heavyweight ladder
by SC on Mar 28, 2009 9:21 AM EDT
in Post-Fight Analysis
17 comments
Eddie Chambers came out the victor via majority decision (99-91, 96-94, 95-95) at Los Angeles' Nokia Theater against former WBC heavyweight titlist Samuel Peter last night, putting Chambers into serious contention and putting a huge dent into the career of Peter.
Chambers (34-1, 18 KO) outlanded Peter every round, though Peter outworked him. It was your typical dull heavyweight fight; not truly awful, but just completely forgettable and yet another reminder that the division is just plain crap to watch. Chambers might well be America's best heavyweight, but he's never going to excite anyone.
As for Peter (30-3, 23 KO), this about does it for his marketability. He hasn't done anything of real note since the loss to Wladimir Klitschko, which is undoubtedly the shining moment of his career as far as performances go, and he lost that fight. Since losing competitively to Wladimir, he's beaten paper champ Maskaev, gotten roughed up by Jamee McCline, beaten a fat middleweight twice, and been hammered by Vitali Klitschko. Now this. Any hope that anyone had about Peter being the exciting, power punching heavy that could turn the division upside down is now dead. And he has no one to blame but himself for this loss. Chambers was hardly exceptional. Peter being grossly out of shape killed him. He clearly didn't think enough of this bout to train very hard, and his arrogance caught up to him. Good for Eddie Chambers, frankly.
Three years from now, this fight will be completely forgotten. Either Klitschko beats Chambers handily unless Vitali's back locks up on him, which says a lot about what chances Alexander Povetkin has, I think. Povetkin is thought to be one of the jewels of the current "younger" crop of heavies, but Chambers should have beaten them when they fought, I felt.
Outside of David Haye maybe going bananas, there's just nothing close on the horizon to a dynamic, exciting heavyweight pug. Forget about it.
0 recs |
17 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
I agree with everything in this post—except that I would have put the word “ladder” in quote marks in the title.
by Matt Miller on Mar 28, 2009 2:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
i think peter needs a change in trainers, pronto. im thinkng he needs a new start, it wil be good for him. maybe a freddie roach will do him good. it just was not the same sam peter in there in his last two fights. no fire, none of his haymaker shots, no nothing. sam peter of 3 years ago would have ate chambers alive. its a pretty amazing drop, especially since he looked so good in the second toney fight.
by sonofapsycho on Mar 28, 2009 5:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think Freddie Roach does everyone who trains with him some good. Woulnd’t hurt Peter but I don’t think Peter is willing to pay the price in training anymore. I don’t think this fight was an oversight, I think it is indicative of a fighter who’s done what he set out to do.
by lcollins1 on Mar 28, 2009 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If Chambers could get down to 210 and be able to have a constant work rate, I feel he could be a hell of a fighter(he was dominating Povetkin until he stopped punching). I don’t like his chances against Wlad, but I think he could and perhaps could be favored to beat Vitali(although I’m biased, because I can’t stand watching either of them and desperately want them to lose), because Vitali, to me, looked awful against Gomez. Chambers has the best skills in the division, as far as I’m concerned, and his movement, hand speed, and most important reaction speed could allow him to present major problems to Vitali.
The only problem is getting close enough to use that hand speed against a taller opponent, which requires foot speed and Chambers, although he showed quicker feet I think tonight, I don’t know if he will be able to do it. Although I don’t think he would beat Wlad, I think a solid right hand could hurt Wlad. Wlad hasn’t been hit clean in a looooong time and Chambers might be able to touch him a couple of times with some conviction even though he isn’t a huge puncher, he throw accurate sharp punches, punches I think could bother Wlad.
My HW Rankings:
1. Wlad
2. Vitali
3. Povetkin
4. Chagaev
5. Chambers
6. Valuev
7. Haye
8. Peter
9. Ibragimov
10. Gomez
If Chambers doesn’t get a shot at either Klit, I’d like to see him put an end to that farce Arreola.
by MatM on Mar 28, 2009 6:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Chambers is so flawed, though
He’s got appreciable skills, but he also gets lazy, has almost no power, and tends to lose his way seemingly out of nowhere. The Peter fight was pretty close and Eddie probably shouldn’t have won, but I guess that’s payback for him handing the fight to Povetkin on a silver freaking platter.
"If they cut my bald head open, they will find one big boxing glove. That's all I am. I live it." -- Marvin Hagler
by SC on Mar 28, 2009 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Shouldn't have won?
Peter really only won a single round, I mean is wasn’t a world class performance, but the Chambers jab was enough to win virtually every round.
by MatM on Mar 28, 2009 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
i only saw from rounds 3 – 10, and from what i saw chambers lost about 3 rounds at the most
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Mar 28, 2009 9:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I had it 96-94
See the RBR. Thought Peter won the first three. But there was no way anyone should have been able to score the fight for Peter.
Vogt early, Vogt often.
by Brickhaus on Mar 29, 2009 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If Peter was in shape I think he clearly wins the fight. I had Eddie winning 96-94.
"If they cut my bald head open, they will find one big boxing glove. That's all I am. I live it." -- Marvin Hagler
by SC on Mar 29, 2009 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree. The Peters that showed up for the second Toney fight would have soundly wrecked the maddeningly inconsistent Chambers. I never had a particularly high opinion of his skills, but when I look at Peters , I see a guy who seems bizarrely out-of-it, someone whose decline in confidence and poise is rather staggering.
The whole Peters/Chambers fight I just kept thinking how both of these guys desperately need new trainers—someone like Teddy Atlas used to be, someone who would really kick their asses into shape. For Peters, though, I fear it now may be too late.
by Matt Miller on Mar 30, 2009 2:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Peter's a lost cause
He’ll never get in shape. There’s this weird arrogance about him that has been killing him since the Wlad Klitschko fight ended. He has a lot of James Toney in him. Maybe those two should do a tour of donut-eating contests mixed with boxing. Like chessboxing but with donuts.
"If they cut my bald head open, they will find one big boxing glove. That's all I am. I live it." -- Marvin Hagler
by SC on Mar 30, 2009 7:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Thompson?
I don’t see how anyone can rate Gomez over Thompson. Thomspon did much better fighting a live Wlad then Gomez did fight a Giant Sequoia Tree version of Vitali in my opinion. I’d sort of like to see Thompson-Gomez, actually.
"I want to see ocean. I want to see black people. I want to see palms." - Wladimir Klitschko
by jrok on Mar 30, 2009 10:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Gomez has better wins than Thompson, IMO
Wlad and Vitali are completely different fighters, other than that they’re both huge and stay in shape. As Corrie Sanders proved, how you do against one means nothing about how you can do against the other.
Head to head, hard to say. Gomez seemed really gun shy in the Vitali fight. More active Gomez probably beats Thompson, but if he fights like he did against Vitali then Thompson wins. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the two square off soon. They both have decent followings in Germany.
Vogt early, Vogt often.
by Brickhaus on Mar 31, 2009 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yep
Not sure I agree about the “better wins” thing, and Gomez certainly has a “worse losses.” Gomez wasn’t just gunshy. He was fat and immobile. But all bets are of if they get in there together. I love dueling southpaws. You can really see brand spanking new fighters when that happens.
"I want to see ocean. I want to see black people. I want to see palms." - Wladimir Klitschko
by jrok on Apr 1, 2009 11:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Chambers Breaks Top 10
Good on the lad. Sounds like a nice name on the record but Peters a slob. Go away now. He no bottle for working hard in the gym. I want to see Chambers-Arreola for the Hw title of America and winner to push for a Klitschko.
Good old tussle over here last night : Tony Dodson-Tony Quigley for the vacant British Super-middleweight Strap. Plot twists, blood and knockdowns to Dodson being stopped in last round. Quigely is the cock of the dock as billed.
Mainstream is brought to you ..
Underground you got to go there...
by dinkman on Mar 29, 2009 8:49 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It only takes one decent win to step into the HW top 10 these days
Because very few of the top 30 or 40 HWs are actually fighting other top 30 or 40 HWs. Very similar to Super Middleweight that way. Frankly, if Pianeta beats Sosnowski in his fight coming up, it will be tough to say he’s not top 15, after getting wins over Gammer, Marrone and Sosnowski. It’s just that weak right now.
Vogt early, Vogt often.
by Brickhaus on Mar 29, 2009 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
