Mike Cassell

It is said that "he needs to be more like them."
"Them" refers to heavyweight fighters like the Klitschko brothers or one dimensional slugger Chris Arreola. That being said, undersized, underpaid, and very underrated Philadelphia fighter "Fast" Eddie Chambers 35 - 1 (18KO's) is finally in position to join the million dollar club, and to be quite frank about the whole thing, it is long overdue. It is reported that he will face the younger version of the heavyweight division's two headed monster, IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko 53 -3 (47 KO's) in December. Chambers, a fighter who started out in a poor section of Pittsburgh came to Philadelphia to make his mark after only nine fights. He quickly solidified himself as a rugged and very dangerous heavyweight. Chambers had to carry some weight around the middle or he would have never been able to make his weight in such a young body, but as he has grown into his body, we are seeing less middle and more muscle, with the same fast hands. There is one thing that is perfectly obvious about Chambers that is not so true about a lot of the big guys. He really wanted to be a heavyweight from Jump Street. He knew he could compete, but more importantly, he knew he could win.

Most people nationally have seen very little of Chambers and in our new thirst for national MMA blood lust, a true pugilist like Chambers can get lost in the mix. Hard hitting undefeated Mexican American Chris Arreola gets all the headlines, but doesn't fight any of the fighters. There is a reason why he is undefeated, and there is a very good reason why Chambers has one loss. Unlike Arreola, he is willing to go any anywhere and fight anybody. The man quite simply has more heart than any contender in the mix, and gets absolutely no credit for it. Maybe if he was a bigger fighter, or talked a lot of smack, or had the kind of muscle and money behind him a contender like Arreola sports, he would get that exposure and adulation. Let's face it; it pays to have either big pockets or just a big mouth in boxing. Just ask David Haye, who has done absolutely nothing as a heavyweight and gets a title shot, and more credibility than "real" heavyweights who have professionally done something in the ring. How can any sanctioning body justify a title shot for a fighter who hasn't faced the top heavyweight fighters? That is almost as ridiculous as giving a title shot to a former champion who hadn't fought in four years. Sorry Vitali Klitschko. You didn't earn your shot either.

There two very important things that the heavyweight boxing public needs to understand. Chambers fought on Television only a few times and the world has no idea how great he can be. The criticisms in his victories are embarrassing, not just to me as a writer, but to the sport as a whole. A win is a win, and they are not easy to come by, even in this "so called" weak heavyweight environment. If you win the Superbowl by a point, you still won the Superbowl. Being a Philadelphia native, I have witnessed over twenty of Chambers professional fights. He is a quite, soft spoke warrior outside the ring, but he is something totally different when he puts the gloves on. He is a "dig down" fighter that has found a way to victory 35 out of 36 fights all over the world. That is a claim most top contenders cannot make. Call him a club fighter, call him undersized, call him a classic Klitschko opponent, but I do not believe that the "lord" himself could have designed a fighter better to face Chambers than Wladimir Klitschko. Unless Klitschko drastically alters his style, look for Dimentrenko, Chambers II. Klitschko just isn't busy enough to make Chambers stand still, and that makes for an easy night for Chambers.

I am predicting a Chambers victory, and maybe then he will do something that neither of the Klitschko brothers is admittedly willing to do, and that is unifying the titles. Remember, in some circles Alexander Povetkin is considered the most talented heavyweight to come out of Europe in 10 years, and that would include both Klitschko's. Chambers took Povetkin the distance on his turf in his only loss, and is carrying around a huge chip for that rematch. Maybe with a title or two, Chambers will be the one that is holding all the cards, and will convince one of these brave Europeans to come to the U.S. to challenge him. Or maybe I am just expecting these bigger, stronger, highly rated fighters to be more like Chambers. Go anywhere, fight the best, undefeated or not and let the chips fall where they may. Chambers earned his shot, and that's more that can be said about a majority of heavyweight pretenders.