The American Clash:BROCK VS. CHAMBERS

The second aspect of the International Boxing Federation elimination contest will hold tonight (02-11-07), Between Eddie Chambers and Calvin Brock both of the United States.

Last week in Erfurt, Germany, Russian Alexander Povetkin, 14-0 (11), the 28 year old 2004 Olympic heavyweight medalist, defeated 37 year old former two-time titlist Chris Byrd, 40-4-1 (21), it was Byrd’s father Joe who threw in the towel at 1:52 of round 11 to protect his son from further punishment. By all accounts, Byrd fought heroically, trading punches in volume, but was unable to escape the pitfalls that he faced on the ropes and was forced to take more than he was able to give, at the end the younger boxer came out tops and looks bright for a shot at the title.
However, another angle that must be taken seriously is whether the young Povetkin is really ripe for a shot at the title given his age and experience so far. I would rather prefer he gets some fight before venturing for the title. Yet even before that is considered he must get pass the challenge that would be provided by the winner of Chamber and Brock.
Looking at this fight critically it provides some hope of some sort for American boxing, at it is possible that an American will challenge for the title if all goes well, for we hear that a unification fight between Sultan Ibragimov and Wladimir Klitschko is been packaged if that come alive, the winner of the elimination contest may have to wait for an undisclosed period.
In trying to analyze this fight one will quickly discover that, the 25 year old Chambers was impressive in his last outing, dominating Dominick Guinn in his ShoBox debut and winning a convincing unanimous decision. The only blemish on the 32 year old Brock’s record is a seventh round knockout loss to the titlist Klitschko, and he obviously cannot afford to lose. A loss to Chambers would not only foil any opportunity to fight Povetkin for an opportunity to get a rematch with Klitschko, but it would create a huge uphill climb to reposition himself as a viable challenger.
Brock last fought in June against Alex Gonzales, winning a lackluster eight round decision, getting floored early in the process, in the walk out bout of the Sultan Ibragimov-Shannon Briggs card. Actually Brock came very close to fighting for the WBO heavyweight title that night. With the participation of the then champion Briggs uncertain almost up to the opening bell, the promoters had received the green light to substitute Brock to fight Ibragimov for the vacant title in the event that Briggs pulled out.
The opinion here is that Chambers will be too fast and too slick for Brock in this one. But “The Boxing Banker” does bring power, experience and craft to the table so it won’t be a walkover by any means. It just appears that, despite all of his skills, Brock seems almost too cool under fire, and the concern is whether he has that killer instinct to win the big fights. Against Klitschko he had an almost “deer in the headlights” look about him before he was stretched face first to the canvas. Insofar as Chambers and Brock are concerned, we will have a better idea of their future prospects after they face each other tonight. One would hope that the elimination series would produce a worthy challenger by mid-2008 or so. Certainly, we are all tired of seeing Klitschko being fed light opposition, as he has up to this point.