To be honest, Eddie's a bit of a frontrunner. He's got talent and skills, but that's only two aspects of the game. Povetkin's a combination puncher who will swarm you and grind you down; and that's exactly what he did to Chambers. Just because Eddie took a few rounds early doesn't mean he can automatically "just throw more" the rest of the way; Povetkin had alot to do with why he didn't with the constant pressure and body work, and Chambers own iffy stamina didn't help. Had Chambers continued to throw more, he would've tired out and probably have been stopped late. It also didn't help Chambers' morale that he landed everything and the kitchen sink on Povetkin early and AP was still right in his grill all night. Kind of like what just happened with Holt-Bradley, if you land great punches and the other guy just takes them or bounces back with no ill effect, it's hard not to let that get in your head. And in Chamber's case (and Holt's), I think it did.
Povetkin's face after he fought Byrd This content is protected Povetkin's face after he fought Chambers This content is protected Don't tell me Chamber's didn't hurt Povetkin because if Chambers had a higher output that eye would of been f***ed up even more.
And Povetkin didn't grind Chambers because Chambers wasn't really hurt. I think Chambers didn't train properly, fatigued in the later rounds, and didn't want to win. Yeah Povetkin adapted to what Chambers was doing, but it really wasn't that difficult because Chambers was barley firing back. If Chambers wanted to win he would of adapted to what Povetkin was doing in the second half of the fight and change his style.
He beat former champion Samuel Peter why would he need to lower himself to fighting Estrada? He should fight either Kali Maheen, Chris Arreola, or Taras Bindenko, all winnable fights for him.
The thing that worries me about Chambers is that it looks like his conditioning wasn't any better in the Peter fight; he had the chance to really showcase himself as the best current US heavyweight for those who haven't seen him fight, and even though he won, I think he left alot of opportunities on the table to really impress people. To the point where one of the judges even scored it for Peter. I have to see the stamina improve first before I give him the credit for fixing it. Which is too bad, because other than that, I like his overall game and picked him to decision Peter. I just think a handspeed guy like that who can't come in in great shape is basically shooting himself in the foot. Without fixing it, he's not going to beat Povetkin.
povetkin is just flat out better. chambers does not have and never will have the stamina to keep up with povetkin, nor the pop to keep him off. that said, if chambers lost bout 10-15 lbs he would be pretty good.
Chambers is a very poor copy for Byrd. Povetkin will beat him again if that fight were to ever happen.