By James Slater: This Saturday night, in the adopted home of the hugely popular Tomasz Adamek – Newark, New Jersey – Philly’s “Fast” Eddie Chambers and “Goral“ will clash, and the winner will be a huge step closer to another crack at the world heavyweight title.
The careers of both men will be on the line, and it will be tough for the loser to come back to anything approaching top level, especially if he’s beaten soundly or stopped.
Chambers, 36-2(18) and Adamek, 45-2(28) is a great match-up, arguably one of the best that could be made in today’s heavyweight division, the Klitschkos aside. And though it may prove tough selling either a Klitschko-Adamek II or a Klitschko-Chambers II, this Saturday’s winner will almost certainly be calling out Wladimir or Vitali.
A while back, I asked “Fast” Eddie some questions regarding the Adamek fight:
J.S: Adamek is a guy who can throw a lot of punches per round, not so much now, as compared to when he was a light-heavyweight and cruiserweight, but he can throw around 60 punches a round. Is that what you’re looking at: a high volume of punches from him?
E.C: “He’ll try that, but it’s hard when you’re not landing as much. He’s more of a boxer as a heavyweight. He’s fought big, slower guys – guys who are tough but slower than him; guys who throw hard shots but are not that fast. He doesn’t stand right in front of these big guys, he uses his legs and he’s kind of become a boxer by default really. But with me, he’s stepping in with another boxer, who is a different class to the bigger, stronger guys. I have more speed and I have more capabilities, and no disrespect to the heavyweights Adamek has been in with; he obviously went in with Vitali Klitschko.
“So Adamek now has to figure out how to dominate. Size will not be a factor in this fight, as it has been in the past for him. His speed will not be a factor, an advantage, because I have the same speed, or maybe more speed than he has. He’ll try and throw around 60 punches a round, but it’s different now. Even when you watch his fights with Chad Dawson and Steve Cunningham, his punch output was not the same per round, because when you throw a lot of shots, there are more chances of getting hit yourself. And when he’s fighting me, a guy who is a good counter-puncher, who doesn’t stand right in front of you and is not an easy target to hit, he’ll be more leery of what’s coming back at him. This fight will be a battle of wits. We’ll both have to figure out how to win.”
J.S: Are you at all worried about rust, having had just one fight since March of 2010?
E.C: “I’ve been boxing for 16 years now, with most of my work done as a pro. You look at guys like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, and they often have a year or so between fights – so it becomes normal for them. I have been more active in the past, but I’m a pro and I have to go in there and give that effort, give that performance. This is my livelihood and I can’t let rust or anything else get in the way. I’ll be perfectly fine in this fight I believe. I’ve trained all the time apart from the time when the two fights (with Tony Thompson and Serhai Liakhovich] were cancelled due to injury.”
J.S: What do you say to the critics who say you have not been the same since Wladimir Klitschko beat you?
E.C: “I’ve only had one fight since, and I won and almost stopped the guy. No disrespect to Derric Rossy, but he fought pretty much in survival mode. And I was nowhere near 100-percent in that fight, I didn’t feel good at all. So when I hear that [claim], I think, ‘I haven’t had a chance to prove myself yet!’ I haven’t had a chance to prove the critics wrong. But I can say that I’ve felt great in preparations for both of the cancelled fights; as good as I felt in preparations before the Klitschko fight. This fight [with Adamek] is my opportunity to silence the cynics.”
J.S: Most fans feel your best performance to date was the big win over Alexander Dimitrenko. I know he’s a big guy, not at all like Adamek, but you fought that fight with more aggression, more spite. Do you have that same frame of mind heading into this next fight?
E.C: “Absolutely. I’ve been off and I lost to Wladimir and I have to prove all the negativity wrong. This is what I’m used to really: people always said I’m too small to be able to compete with the big heavyweights, that I’d have no chance to win the title. So in a way I’ve already overachieved in that sense (laughs). But I have more to do, I have more to prove. I love the detractors as much as the fans – they make me continue to work hard. They add fuel to the fire.”
J.S: What do you hope a win over Adamek will lead to?
E.C: “Obviously, this is the express train back to the top. To have had that layoff and then come right back against a top-10 ranked fighter, this is the way to get my name back up there with the fans and in boxing in general. A win will get me a shot at one of the titles. It’s championship or bust for me!”
For what it’s worth, my prediction is Chambers via close decision. I don’t see a KO in this one. I do see Chambers boxing with added spite in his work, with the Philly star being more aggressive and using his speed and accuracy to sting and hurt Adamek. The early rounds will be close, the later rounds it will be all Chambers.