Though he mostly cruised for 12 rounds before landing a vicious left hand that knocked Eddie Chambers through the ropes and out in the waning seconds of the bout, Wladimir Klitschko got the best test he's had in years today in Germany.

Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO) was leading 109-100 on the Bad Left Hook card, and probably was up by that score or 110-99 on most cards. Before the 11th and 12th rounds, he was berated by trainer Emanuel Steward for not being aggressive enough. Steward referred to it as "another Ibragimov," meaning that because Wladimir wasn't aggressive, he would have to "settle" for a dominant decision, rather than something for the highlight reels.

Steward was being a bit dramatic, as this was nowhere near the stinker of Klitschko-Ibragimov or Klitschko-Chagaev, but before the 12th, Klitschko snapped back that he would do it. And do it he did. The official time of the stoppage was 2:55 of the 12th round.

Chambers (35-2, 18 KO) had a great gameplan early, but he just wasn't good enough to beat Klitschko. Not big enough, not good enough, not powerful enough, and really, not quite fast enough, despite that being his chief strength. He couldn't outbox Wladimir.

Early in the bout, Chambers attempted to get into Klitschko's head first by picking him up off of his feet, and then in the next round by actually picking him up and slamming him to the mat. But Klitschko rattled only a bit, and quickly got past it. After that, he put on his usual clinic.

Overall, it was a more aggressive performance than usual for the world heavyweight champion. He dealt with Chambers very well, disposing of yet another challenger. Who's next? Who knows? But whoever it is, Wladimir Klitschko reigns clearly as the king of the heavyweights at this point, at least for my money.

On the dreadful undercard:

• Johnathon Banks KO-6 Travis Walker. Walker went down pretty much as soon as he was hit on the chin. It was quite a finish. Banks actually fell down throwing the punch that landed on Walker, who fell just after Banks did. Awful fight, with neither guy looking too interested in fighting. Banks is now 24-1 (17 KO), while Walker dips to 34-4-1 (28 KO).
• Alexander Ustinov TKO-4 Ed Mahone. Mahone hasn't done anything in a decade, and at his peak was demolished in three by Vitali Klitschko. Before today he hadn't even fought in about two years. Lumbering Ustinov was his usual self, and Mahone wasn't really keen on being punched. Mahone's corner threw in the towel early in the fourth. It should have been thrown in the second after the bell rang. Ustinov is now 20-0 (16 KO).
• Michael Sprott TKO-1 Werner Kreiskott. Swing fight, and completely useless. Sprott (32-14, 17 KO) now moves on to a fight with Audley Harrison for the vacant European heavyweight title.
• Nenad Borovcanin TKO-2 Jonathan Pasi. Commentator tried to sell Borovcanin, 30, as a prospect, but no. He's never fought so much as a remotely warm body. He's now 25-0 (18 KO).
• In the only non-heavyweight fight of the show, Domonique Dolton beat Omar Siala via TKO-3. Dolton is a Detroit product and a Sugar Hill fighter. Siala (11-11-2) has never beaten someone who had won a fight coming in. This was another odd stoppage, as suddenly Siala winced, seemed to acknowledge body pain, and was given a standing count. Then, the referee told him to box on, which Siala didn't want to do, so it was called off.

In the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico, you can order this fight for $14.95 at Klitschko.com. The card begins at 4pm EDT.

WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO		EDDIE CHAMBERS
	Main Event

When American contender Eddie Chambers scored a career-best win last year over the previously-unbeaten Alexander Dimitrenko, he earned a shot at the WBO heavyweight title held by Wladimir Klitschko, and by association, earned a shot at Klitschko's IBF belt, and the real belt, the Ring Magazine world heavyweight championship. Today from Germany, we find out if there just might be a genuine American hope for knocking off a Klitschko brother.

Chambers (35-1, 18 KO) has been a different animal since his first career loss to Alexander Povetkin in 2008. He's gone 5-0 since then, first adjusting his game against three fairly soft opponents, and then scoring wins last year over former titlist Samuel Peter and Dimitrenko.

But the task at hand now is easily the most daunting he's faced to date. Klitschko (53-3, 47 KO) has not just been a dominant champion since carving up Chris Byrd in 2006 to regain a heavyweight title, he's been nearly untouchable. Calvin Brock, his first defense, came the closest to beating him, opening up a pretty good cut on Kiltschko. And then, Wladimir brought the pain, and Brock was disposed.

Pitiful mandatory challenger Ray Austin was next. Klitschko got him out in two rounds, never even unleashing his right hand. In a rematch, previous Wlad conqueror Lamon Brewster (now damaged by time and some hard battles) quit after six rounds, never looking as though he was particularly interested in fighting. Sultan Ibragimov was shut out over 12 despicably dull rounds, and never fought again. Tony Thompson was knocked out in 11. Hasim Rahman (a late replacement for Povetkin) never got out of the blocks and was stopped in seven. And last June, Ruslan Chagaev quit on his stool after nine rounds of domination.

The greatest test for Wladimir in that run was probably Thompson, a 6'5" southpaw with an awkward style and an 81" reach. Eddie Chambers is a 6'1" right with a 75" reach, and looks, frankly, like a dwarf next to Klitschko.

The big x-factor for this fight is Klitschko's right arm. He had pretty major surgery last year, which has kept him out since that June fight with Chagaev. It's the longest layoff of his professional career, and at 33, neither he nor his body are getting any younger. Even though Klitschko has always kept himself in great shape and looks just fine right now, age, the injury and rust could play a part.

And for Chambers' sake, those things better hinder Klitschko. As much as I like Eddie Chambers, who is a good boxer with well above average speed and movement for a heavyweight, it's hard to envision a scenario where his hand is raised at the end of this fight. He's small, doesn't have the power, and is eventually going to have to deal with Klitschko's right hand -- if he gets past that heavy jab, anyway, which has been a major problem for everyone who has fought Wladimir in recent times.

Ideally, Chambers is going to want to go in and out, which should seem obvious enough. He'll want to sting Klitschko to the body as much as he can, and avoid getting hit much at all. Though Dimitrenko was similar in size to Wladimir, the similarities really end there. Klitschko is no speed merchant, but he's good with his timing. He's not slick, but very intelligent. And he hits like hell. (There's no "but" for that one.) Comparatively, Dimitrenko is sloppy and amateurish, which is not so much a shot at Dimitrenko as it is meaning to say that Klitschko is simply his superior in every way.

I do believe we'll see Eddie Chambers give Wladimir a few problems, but at the end of the day I just don't think he has the right body type to be the man who dethrones a Klitschko. He's just too small. Klitschko UD-12

Americans Johnathon Banks and Travis Walker will face off in the main support bout for Klitschko-Chambers on Saturday in Germany, and heavyweight Alexander Ustinov will also be featured on the card.

Banks (23-1, 16 KO) moved up to the heavyweight division last year after being stopped in eight rounds by Tomasz Adamek in a bid for the world cruiserweight championship. Banks, 27, is an Emanuel Steward product (though not trained by Steward anymore) who has sparred extensively with Wladimir Klitschko. Since moving up, the Detroit native has gone 3-0 against mediocre opponents. At 6'3" with a 76" reach, he has a heavyweight frame for sure.

Walker (34-3-1, 28 KO) will be a new test, or at least that's the hope. Walker is probably best-known for his three-round war with Cristobal Arreola in 2008, a fight in which Walker put Arreola on the canvas before being stopped himself. He threw an insane amount of punches early on and simply ran out of gas. Before fighting Vitali Klitschko, Arreola had remarked that Walker was his toughest opponent, and that he "hits like a mule kicks."

Since losing to Arreola, though, Walker has faced an insanely weak batch of fighters, save for the solid Manuel Quezada -- and Quezada knocked Walker out in 2:57. Walker has been stopped three times, all early in fights, but one was pretty terrible. You may recall seeing Walker stopped very early against TJ Wilson on the first round of a ShoBox fight in 2007. When they rematched, Walker took him out in two.

Walker's last three fights have all been gruesome mismatches in Texarkana, Arkansas, where he's beaten a guy who came in 3-21, a guy who was 3-0, and in his last conquest, a guy making his "pro" debut.

Also featured on the card will be big, slow Alexander Ustinov (19-0, 12 KO), the 33-year-old former kickboxer who was last seen on the Vitali Klitschko-Kevin Johnson undercard. Ustinov faced the ultra-chinny Monte Barrett that night, and failed to put him away after hurting him badly very early in the fight. He won a labored unanimous decision.

Ustinov is scheduled to face 37-year-old former world title challenger Ed Mahone, who hasn't fought since 2008. Mahone (24-9-2, 23 KO) faced Vitali Klitschko for the WBO title way back in 1999. He was stopped in three. Since then, he's gone 3-8, and he hasn't won a fight since November 2007.

With boxing just about to really kick into full swing for 2010, I'm checking my watch every other day or so for the time someone at ESPN, Fox Sports, Yahoo! Sports, Comedy Central, ET Online or the famed site Old Man Who Used to Like Marciano and Hasn't Seen Boxing in 11 Years to chime in and notice, "HEY!"

"You know what would help?!"

"Heavyweights!"

"People always liked heavyweights before."

"With heavyweights, yada yada, Marciano and Louis and Ali and Frazier and Foreman and Holmes and Tyson and Jersey Joe and I guess Holyfield, too, why not?!"

Personally, I think the sport of boxing does just fine without a dominant heavyweight division, but I also don't deny that of course the game could benefit from a headline-grabbing big man. I also don't deny that without the lettuce, a BLT is just a BT.

For those who might not pay close attention, here are some notable heavyweight fights coming your way. I figure after Pacquiao-Clottey one of those "Hey! The heavyweight division is dead!" articles will pop up, so let's burn this out now.

Friday, March 12: Samuel Peter (33-3, 26 KO) v. Nagy Aguilera (15-2, 10 KO)

The night before the big Pacquiao-Clottey show in Arlington, Top Rank will put an appetizer onto the table about a half hour up the road at the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine. Sam Peter is still best-known for knocking down Wladimir Klitschko three times in a 2005 loss, and has in a lot of ways become a hype job because of that performance, despite the constant harping on Klitschko for having a glass jaw that follows the world champion around to this day. If Klitschko's chin is so bad, what's the big deal about Peter knocking him down?

That was the last time Wladimir looked so much as vulnerable, too. Since then, Peter has stopped four guys, and three of them were bums. The fourth, Oleg Maskaev, was stopped in under two minutes by Nagy Aguilera in his last fight. Oleg, for the record, recently said he plans to box on at age 41, and considering how giddy the WBC has proven to be to hand him mandatory challenger positions before, why not, I suppose.

Anyway, this could be a decent sleeper fight if all goes right. Since signing with Top Rank after losing two straight to Vitali Klitschko and Eddie Chambers, Peter has been slowly rebuilding his career. He's run over Marcus McGee, Ronald Bellamy and the free-moving land mass that is Gabe Brown in his last three. Though not a world-beater, Aguilera could be a fair step back up the ladder in terms of competition.

Most likely, though, he isn't, and Peter will blast him out without much trouble. Aguilera's only credible win is over Maskaev, who is really old and never took a punch all that well, and was caught cold.

Continue reading this post »

ESPN.com's Dan Rafael reports that despite offers from two distributors, Wladimir Klitschko and his team have elected to go internet-only for the world heavyweight champion's March 20 defense against Eddie Chambers. The fight will be available to viewers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico via Klitschko.com for $14.95.

HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Versus were all contacted by Klitschko's people, and all turned it down. Two distributors (unnamed, but I'm guessing Integrated Sports was one) did offer to put the show on regular old pay-per-view, but Klitschko and his team turned down the offers.

"I am excited about the possibilities of Web broadcasting," Klitschko said in making the announcement. "I enjoy working on the computer and I am very interested in new technologies. I like the idea that we are pioneers with this new technology in a very important market. I am sure this technology will be the wave of the future."

Internet PPV has started getting some traction in boxing, and I love that it's getting there. But the fact is, there's really nothing good about Klitschko-Chambers being relegated to this small of a show in the United States. I'm almost ready to say heavyweight boxing is as close to dead as it's going to get.

Heavyweight boxing looks like a completely foreign concept at this point. Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko and David Haye hold the title belts, and there hasn't been an American titleholder since Shannon Briggs, Chris Byrd and John Ruiz, and none of them ever came close to thrilling American audiences.

But it's still pretty amazing that a fight like Klitschko-Chambers is a webcast and nothing more. And for those wondering how you're going to watch this fight in the States, there's your answer.

I'm sure a lot of people are going to try to get more creative.

The expected March 20 fight between world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and American Eddie Chambers has been made official. The two will meet in Dusseldorf, Germany. HBO was at one point expected to pick up the fight, but have made no announcement yet. Chances are this will find its way to American screens one way or another. The Klitschkos have in the recent past fought on ESPN Classic, which could be one option.

The ESPIRIT Arena holds 51,000 and should be expected to do a great house for this fight. Chambers (35-1, 18 KO) is the top-ranked American heavyweight in the world, and with good reason. He's a very legitimate challenger, even if a huge underdog.

Chambers, who will turn 28 nine days after this fight, has also worked his way to this spot. He first had a chance to get a shot at Klitschko back in 2007-08, when he, Alexander Povetkin, Chris Byrd and Calvin Brock were placed into a four-man tournament by the IBF. Chambers beat Brock in November 2007, but lost to Povetkin two months later. Povetkin has yet to claim his title shot.

Since then, Chambers has become a clearly more focused fighter. I thought he gave the fight with Povetkin away more than getting clearly beaten by a better fighter, and after the loss he's gotten things together. After three wins over trial horses Raphael Butler, Cisse Salif and Livin Castillo, Chambers has rattled off quality wins over Samuel Peter and the previously-unbeaten Alexander Dimitrenko, a big guy whose size -- if not his skill -- matches up with Klitschko.

And in that fight, Chambers looked better than he ever has. For a guy who's always been a small heavyweight by today's standards, it turns out that at his lightest pro weight ever, he was his most effective. Chambers came in at 208 pounds to face Dimitrenko, giving up 45 pounds to his foe on the scales.

He'll face a huge size difference again against Klitschko, but that's not his chief concern. Fact is, Klitschko can really box. It's not just size.

Klitschko, 33, is coming off of shoulder surgery that has kept him out of the ring since his June 2009 win over Ruslan Chagaev. He had the surgery in August. Chambers himself has not fought since July.