Mandatory Eight Count - Chambers in Shape
by Brickhaus on Mar 19, 2010 5:29 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
Email
Print
Weights from Germany | Klitschko.com
Klitschko pretty much looks as usual and weighed in at 244. Eddie Chambers weighed in at 209, which is basically where he was when he upset Alexander Dimitrenko. Chambers looks about as close to ripped as I've seen him, but the size difference between the two is still staggering.
Cunningham-Godfrey being salvaged | Dan Rafael's Blog
The fight between Steve Cunningham and Matt Godfrey, which is as good of a cruiserweight bout as you'll get stateside these days, may be salvaged on next week's Friday Night Fights. Since Don King defaulted on his purse bid, Main Events is now the promoter, and they're looking for this to headline a previously untelevised card next week to take the place of the failed card that was to be headlined by Spinks-Bundrage.
Chambers Facing a Tall Order in Klitschko | Philadelphia Inquirer
Eddie Chambers and his trainer think they have a plan to beat Klitschko tomorrow. Chambers has sparred with Wlad before (in his preparations for the second Byrd fight), and thinks his jab and upper body movement will allow him to outbox Wlad. I feel like I heard this pretty recently from a competitor of Wladimir's brother.
Chambers promises he won't pull a Clottey | Don Steinberg's blog
Chambers and his trainer realize that keeping up the earmuffs is no way to beat Wladimir. The money quote from Chambers: "I'm gonna have to find a way to kick the door in. Obviously, there are times I'm going to pick up the aggression, and other times I'm going to have to wait. This is a chess match, not checkers. You have to be patient or else you might get checkmated."
Puerto Rican fight before the parade | ESPN
Per Dan Rafael's notebook, Bob Arum still intends to have a Puerto Rican card in Madison Square Garden the weekend of the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Typically, Cotto would fight there, but he's facing Yuri Foreman a week earlier in Yankee Stadium. Instead, he's hoping to put on a card headlined by Ivan Calderon against Johnriel Casimero. The card would air on FSN's Top Rank Live.
Ronnie Shields drops Omar Henry | Boxing Scene
In a dispute over sparring, Houston trainer Ronnie Shields has dumped top prospect Omar Henry from his roster. There are rumors going around that this has to do with managers Shelley Finkel and Cameron Dunkin, but Shields says it's because he didn't want Henry sparring fellow prospect Erislandy Lara. In this day of Youtube and the like, it's pretty easy to earn a good or bad reputation in sparring, where a fighter may or may not be going all out, depending on the intent of the sparring session. Henry also previously declined sparring Manny Pacquiao to prepare for Miguel Cotto.
Vazquez-Marquez IV is official | Ring Magazine
The promotion has the awfully punny title "Once and Four All." As much as I'm hoping this bout doesn't ruin the magic of the trilogy between Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez, it's still must-see TV on the basis of what great fights the first three were. On the undercard, there's another bout with sleeper fight of the year potential, as Abner Mares will be challenging Yohnny Perez for his title.
Drug testing for Mayweather-Mosley detailed | LA Times
According to Lance Pugmire, Travis Tygart and the USADA will be administering the testing, which will include random blood testing "through and after the fight." The big bombshell here is that the fighters have agreed that if either fighter fails the drug test, he would be suspended for two years. By way of comparison, James Toney was only suspended for six months when he failed his second blood test, and Tony Margarito was suspended indefinitely with the opportunity to reapply for a license after only one year.
74 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
In terms of physical proportion here, Wlad might as well be fighting his 11-year old son. And I don’t think 209 is a good sign. I think it’s a nail in the coffin.
Klitschko TKO 10
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't
Chambers isn’t knocking out Wlad. Wlad’s chin is bad, but stamina was his bugaboo more than his chin. Chambers would have beaten Povetkin if he hadn’t ran out of gas. He’s in MUCH better shape at 209 than he was when he used to weigh around 220. Unless he’s waight drained because of it, I think it improves his chances – if the tiger can suddenly change his stripes. But I think Chambers is too immobile to get inside on Wlad either way. His upper body movement is okay, but he doesn’t move his feet afterwards, because he mostly leans back.
I see a smooth Klitschko decision where Chambers maybe grabs a round or two and Klitschko never actually gets aggressive enough to knock him out.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I think it’s a nail among many. Wlad is gonna wear down that 209 with his octopuslike death clutches, and fling it all over the place. I think Eddie’s best chance in this fight would be for him to indeed change his stripes and sit down on his body punching… but maybe you’re right. Damned either way.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
I dunno if it’s a trick of the light or whatever, but Chambers looks more than 5 inches shorter than Wlad.
Chambers is 6'2"
like Arreola is 6’4" (hint – HBO said he was 6’2" in the Wills fight, and he ain’t grown since then except for head fat). Also, tall fighters tend to exaggerate their height in the other direction. Paul Williams is listed at 6’1" but everyone I know who has seen him in person says he’s 6’3". When Klitschko was coming up, he was usually listed as 6’7" or 6’8", now he’s suddenly 6’6 1/2".
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I think Paul is in reality 6’4 or maybe even 6’5", but the less people who know that the better. His phone isn’t exactly ringing off the hook.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
Which is why they tend to exaggerate short
Guys with too much height have trouble getting fights.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Yeah. And when you get to heavyweight it starts getting more interesting. Sometimes it’s a marketing tool (“Look how big I am!”) and sometimes it’s just to try to help sell a fight that most people know is a mismatch. Like, this one for instance.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
Like big guys get a little smaller and small guys get a little bigger. But pictures of course, don’t lie. Wlad is a head taller than Eddie. And not a normal head taller, either. A giant, Wlad-sized head taller.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
Move the Godfrey fight to the April 2nd FNF
They can have Godfrey, a guy from nearby Rhode Island draw people into the Mohegan. Add Demetrius Andrade to the mix and it looks like a good audience is all but guaranteed.
Too much of a weight and height disadvantage for Chambers.
There’s a big difference in ability between Wlad and Dimitrenko.If Chambers loses to Povetkin,he’s gonna lose to Wlad.
Like Kevin Johnson,Chambers just doesn’t have the look of a champion to me.
I mean,you only have to look at the NBA and NFL to see where the real heavyweight athletes are in America.
I mean,you only have to look at the NBA and NFL to see where the real heavyweight athletes are in America.
Shamefully true. I’ve been saying that for years and years. The other sports have gobbled up our heavyweight talent.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
oh yeah – LeBron James as a boxer from a young age. 6’8" – 250lbs. If he has the mental fortitude, he would have been a stunning HW.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
I've always thought that Allen Iverson would have been a badass light middleweight
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
How about a modern day Joe Frazier in Ray Lewis. He always struck me as a guy who could do some late round work.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
You never know how someone’s chin would hold up though.
I don’t doubt that lots of guys in the NFL or NBA could have been great boxers if they’d gone that route. But there’s just as much chance that the guys who missed the boat are mediocre football or basketball players as there is that they’re stars.
It’s also worth noting that it’s not as if big guys from other countries aren’t diverted to other sports as well. Maybe not as much as here, but there are plenty of big foreign dudes who end up playing soccer, hockey, and some weird sports we don’t watch in the US.
Ha ha.
You know, I’ve always wondered why some Europeans took a liking to hockey and others didn’t. Like how Norway and Sweden are right next to each other and they’re pretty similar culturally, but nobody plays hockey in Norway while everyone loves it in Sweden. I mean, I get why they don’t play it in places like Spain, but why not in England? The winters are cold! (Aren’t they?)
Some of the bigger forwards in rugby league are up to 6’ 5" / 250lbs,even bigger in rugby union.
I might be wrong but i think Kali Meehan from New Zealand was a rugby player.
One ex top grade rugby league player turned boxer everyone knows about is Anthony Mundine.
Yeah,the guy who doesn’t want to fight real fights anymore. :)
To be honest i think a lot of these guys nowadays might just think,‘play a sport,get paid well,maybe get a knee injury’ or ’fight in a sport,maybe get paid well,and maybe get brain damage or potentially killed.
Maybe theres more self preservation in mind nowadays?
Taco Pal
No there’s not much ice hockey over here.
There’s ‘field hockey’,on grass,but that’s only played by women and southern fairies. :)
Actually Matt more people die, or get seriously injured, playing Rugby every year than in boxing. It’s not even close. However it is much more common to get minor brain damage, which I suppose we would call punchy, and other wear and tear damage in boxing.
I wouldn’t be suprised if Pac turned out to be the incredible hulk in a very good disguise. - Sigidy
by Drunken cutman on Mar 20, 2010 4:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Is that a fact?
Brain damage or pugilistica dementia is not uncommon in boxing,as you say but yeah rugby is a tough game.
I know a local guy who is in awheelchair after a scrum collapsed on him years ago.
I’m more of a league fan than union,being a northerner but i will watch England v France tonight.
I'm 17 and I've been forced to retire from rugby already.
I’ve got a dislocated shoulder, torn the muscles on the other one, two slipped disks in my neck and a load of wear and tear on my spine. Trust me, it’s a fucking tough sport.
"The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic"
by Oli Goldstein on Mar 20, 2010 7:57 AM EDT up reply actions
I know.I used to play for the high school team but my dad was a pro rugby league player for Bradford Northern(now Bradford Bulls)so i have a bit of insight into the game.
I still say boxing is tougher.
Rugby is about bodily injuries.Boxing is about head injuries.If i had to choose the lesser life-threatening and general well-being option,i know which i would choose as being a bit safer.
The number of concussions suffered in rugby is astonishing.
Raphael Ibanez suffered a concussion in September 2008 that was so severe, he had to retire.
There really is no way you can put rugby in the ‘safe’ category or say it is ‘less tough’; just look at Scotland-Wales in this year’s Six Nations and what happened to Thom Evans and Chris Paterson. These guys aren’t just getting muscle injuries, they’re getting serious concussions, neck injuries and organ injuries.
"The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic"
by Oli Goldstein on Mar 20, 2010 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I didn’t say rugby was safe.Did you even read my posts properly?
There’s a reason why McIlvanney called boxing ‘The Hardest Game’.
Just because you love boxing shouldn’t mean that you won’t recognise that it is one of the most dangerous and potentially fatal sports in the world.
It is said regularly that boxers put their lives on the line every time they step in the ring yet i have never heard that said about rugby.
Through my own experiences with both sports i would definitelt say boxing is more dangerous,and so do a lot of rugby players i know.
by Matt Mosley on Mar 20, 2010 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I was replying to Dc’s point that the stats between rugby and boxing are ‘not even close’.
Obviously they are both dangerous but often one of the main aims in boxing is to hurt and KO your opponent.
The aim in rugby is to score a try or a goal kick.If someone gets hurt or KO’d,it is not usually intended,whereas the intention in boxing is often to ‘take the other guy’s head off’.
Boxing is often a brutal sport.
by Matt Mosley on Mar 20, 2010 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Taking constant punches to the head is more dangerous than the chance of maybe getting KO’d by a hard tackle or a stiff arm.
I’m not saying rugby isn’t a damn tough game but i watch it every weekend and KO’s happen a lot less often than they do in boxing.
A lot less.
by Matt Mosley on Mar 20, 2010 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m not saying boxing isn’t a brutal sport either; I’m saying they’re both brutal in their own right. However, rugby isn’t just getting hurt by ‘a hard tackle or a stiff arm’; you’re being hit in 30-40 collisions by enormous men weighing up to 20 stone and taking serious damage to every muscle in the body. Sure, there aren’t as many straight KO’s in rugby, because that isn’t the point, but I can guarantee there aren’t as many internal organ injuries, serious neck injuries or concussions in boxing. It’s not really a matter of opinion, here, where you can just say boxing is more brutal.
"The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic"
by Oli Goldstein on Mar 22, 2010 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions
If you have played rugby you should go give boxing a try too,and then tell me which is tougher.
I have had experience in both and i know a lot of competitors on either side and i have yet to hear one of them say that rugby is tougher or more dagerous/potentially fatal than boxing.
by Matt Mosley on Mar 26, 2010 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions
About it ‘not even being close’ between rugby and boxing for deaths and serious injuries.
I find that hard to believe to be honest.
I don’t see many ex-rugby players in wheelchairs(and in Yorkshire i know quite a few)but i have heard loads of stories about boxers suffering from dementia and Parkinsons.
Scotland are going to get schooled today by Ireland
I don’t want to watch! I still haven’t forgiven them for the Italy affair!
I wouldn’t be suprised if Pac turned out to be the incredible hulk in a very good disguise. - Sigidy
by Drunken cutman on Mar 20, 2010 4:21 AM EDT up reply actions
Well Italy are supposed to be a bit rubbish
And Scotland are supposed to be quite good. And then we played an awfully boring game against them with totally shoddy defense and got taken way out of our game.
I wouldn’t be suprised if Pac turned out to be the incredible hulk in a very good disguise. - Sigidy
by Drunken cutman on Mar 20, 2010 8:34 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m not really sure how it would be done, but I think the key would be getting more football & basketball players to use boxing as a physical training regimen from a young age. This would enable them to switch over if the original plan doesn’t work out. The percentage of D-I athletes, let alone all players, who make it pro is vanishingly small (football especially since basketball at least has leagues worldwide). And like you say, those who do make it might not even be the ones who would be good fighters.
by drivlikejehu on Mar 19, 2010 7:14 PM EDT up reply actions
There is one place trying to take failed NFL players
and turn them into heavyweight fighters. I personally don’t think it will work (22 – 23 years old is just too late to start boxing to ever become too fluid at it, unless you’re a natural like Nate Campbell), but at least someone is trying. A bunch of the guys just won their pro debuts recently. We’ll see where they go. If any of them are successful, expect to see that transition being made with greater frequency.
http://www.theheavyweightfactory.com/
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
This is what I was thinking of- the switch is a good idea but they need to build up skills earlier. The main problem, other than convincing teenage athletes to box, is that if they start in middle or high school they would need a new trainer/gym if they go off to college. Then again, few high school athletes earn college scholarships.
Boxing’s lack of central authority is a major impediment to any kind of real initiative like this, but it makes a lot of sense. Boxing is great physical training and it opens up a potential avenue if things fizzle out in another sport. Not just football and basketball either- baseball, hockey, and other sports require physical tools that could translate well.
Another issue might be that ordinary boxers don’t earn very much. A lot of athletes might prefer to just hang em up, rather than scrape by in the fight business (and I wouldn’t blame them).
by drivlikejehu on Mar 19, 2010 9:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Not nearly as much though
Football and basketball are better played by big dudes. Ideal soccer size (for most positions) is about the same size as a middlweight, not a heavyweight.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
The guy who actually has some background in boxing is Ron Artest… He is a fucking loon as well. His dad was a Golden Gloves Boxer.
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
That, and state-subsidized school sports programs
Don’t underestimate how much of an effect it has that a poor kid can play basketball or football for free without needing to seek it out. Most other countries don’t have that. If you want to play sports at an organized level in most places, you need to seek out a club to play the sport at, which puts it on a much more even keel with boxing. Plus, on top of needing to actively seek it out (and then train in a dank gym, probably in a bad part of town), you can’t get a college scholarship for boxing. Between needing to look for it, not having a ton of medium-term reward, and getting punched in the face, it’s no wonder most athletes pick other sports.
I suspect it may start to change some as MMA gets more and more popular. Most high schools do have wrestling, and since MMA is the next closest thing to go pro in, I imagine that a lot of top high school wrestlers seek out MMA gyms these days. People who seem to have more talent in striking may gravitate towards boxing. We’ll see if that actually happens though. We haven’t even seen the first generation of kids who have grown up with MMA as a major sport, but I suspect it could change the combat sport landscape in the US pretty significantly.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
This is the reason to support your local PAL (police athletic league) boxing club. San Antonio and Dallas have them, but I know around the country they are in decline. These are free options for kids.
There are some kids (me), for whom team sports don’t work, and boxing is a fantastic avenue for them.
MMA is expensive, that’s the difference. The wide variety of equipment’s expensive, and the variety of coaching is expensive. This isn’t the option for at-risk youth in America. It is though, as you say, for some top level high school wrestlers…with a little dough.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
I’m from th UK but i follow the NFL and watch a few NBA games and it’s obvious there’s got to be a reason for,all of a sudden,after years of producing the best heavies(and boxers in general)the standard of US heavyweights declines.
The other weights aren’t suffering as much and while i think the Klits would have been contenders in any generation,i think it’s at least as much a case of the US heavies being poor as it is the Europeans being dominant.
The Berlin Wall
i’m sure what you are saying is partly true Matt, but I think the Berlin Wall and the emergence of Easter European Boxers is at least as big a factor.
Yeah,good point.Like the Cubans,these guys couldn’t previously turn over in a communist country.
I did say i thought it was a bit of both though.
by Matt Mosley on Mar 20, 2010 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions
Don’t count out the Oprah-Dr.Phil factor either. There’s been a real assertive effort over the course of the last generation to make boxing seem barbaric. I think the rise of MMA is some push-back against that, but both sports are marginalized these days, ridiculed and and disparaged in movies and on TV, etc. There are certain very well known figures in Boxing that can take some of the blame for that as well, particularly during the 90’s.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
this is so true. And so misguided on their part. In the years I spent in the gym (I know fewer than many), cops would bring in kids, some of whom learned some shit and got in more trouble beating the shit out of kids at school. Some who left, and some who stayed and got their shit together in and out of the ring.
Fundamentally, I think that for some kids, boxing can hold a unique position. It can be virtually free. And with a coach who is also a quality person it can change a kid’s life. Now that occurrence probably doesn’t occupy a significant portion of the population, but for something so cheap and with a huge upside for SOME kids, it’s ridiculous to foreclose it as an option.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
I agree.For kids who have come from nothing and have the choice of going to prison,being murdered or getting into sports,boxing could be the best thing they ever do.Plenty of pro boxers who have come poor backgrounds have said this.
As someone already said though,better pay and not having to take shots to the head pushes them into other sports.I can’t blame them for that really.
Mayweather v. Mosley drug testing
is a total success IMO. Two guys negotiated the highest level of assurance available in sport today. When the bell rings, we can be as certain as any event in sport today that this will be a clean fight.
I’ve said it before, but Mayweather’s drug testing advocacy should be viewed as a positive reflection on him. I don’t even care if he began this quest solely due to the Pac fight. It says “hey, I’m clean, are you?”.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
BTW, for those who may want to tune in
It looks like Martin Lindsay and Jamie Arthur are putting on a good fight. Arthur might pull off the upset.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
OK never mind
Lindsay has thoroughly turned the tide.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Just reading ESPN about the Cunningham v Godfrey fight:
Don King is the devil incarnate!!!
After all the money he has made form fighters why doesn’t he just retire from boxing instead of potentially screwing up guys careers.
No one with half a brain is gonna sign with him now after how he has treated Alexander and Cunningham.
Hopefully he leaves boxing asap.
The wieght disparity is too much. Eddie will lose becuse of it, though I shall be pulling for him.
"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006
by The Midnight Rambler on Mar 19, 2010 9:10 PM EDT reply actions
Plus, Klit has the Steward factor.
"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006
by The Midnight Rambler on Mar 19, 2010 9:12 PM EDT reply actions
The Steward Factor?
What has he done lately? Or what has he done since Lennox Lewis? I think Manny Steward is probably the most over-rated trainer in the business. In the past few years I feel like Manny’s been more of a reason to think that guy’s gonna lose.
I know I know, Hearns, but sheesh, the guy’s a one-trick pony to me.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
i agree completely. he always has been overrated. now hes just a part time celeb trainer which is pretty much a joke, like teddy atlas.
rob murray on the other hand has lived in gyms while manny has been on the shittiest announce team in history.
if anything, chambers, has the huge advantage in trainers.
"Newspapermen ask dumb questions. They look up at the sun and ask if it is shining."
-Sonny Liston
.
by sonofapsycho on Mar 19, 2010 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions
im intrigued to what rob murray and chambers have planned. chambers has the boxing ability to win and not many have tried to out box wlad, they have just tried to tag is china chin.
the size difference is just ridiculous. i’ve tuned out the last 5 wlad fights out of bordom and frustration, i dont think ill be doing it tomorrow.
"Newspapermen ask dumb questions. They look up at the sun and ask if it is shining."
-Sonny Liston
.
Fast Eddie has a chance.
I think the last few WK opponents just flat out did not have the Boxing skill to compete. At least I think WK will have to use some strategy and find a way to press the action. Chambers has at least the same or better skill level as WK. The size difference is huge…209 so basically we have one of the biggest heavy weights in the modern era vs one of the smallest.( I think Chambers is the reason why we see so many cruiser weights are moving to up). He has a “boxers chance” where I could see him slipping and timing shots and he will have the hand speed. LB was a small heavy weight but always had heavy hands so no other comparison . But I still don’t care what anyone says you get hit square by a 200+ llb man you will fall.
I just hope Chambers fights like he did in his last fight over seas and not his first.
Steve Cunningham deserves a better promoter….
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
He's a free agent in a week, and he's counting the days
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 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.
