I was in the same boat -- thought Chambers looked really sharp with some crisp RH counters but he simply stopped throwing after the 5th round... if he had only attempted to do half of what his corner begged him to do then this would've been a close bout.
I gotta agree with everything that's been said about this fight. Chambers performance was incrediby aggravating. It's like watching a pitcher with strikeout velocity nibble at the corners until he's walked the ballpark and been pulled from the game. The only thing I'd slightly disagree with is the statement that this would have been a close fight if Chambers did everything his corner told him to. I think that if he did everything his father and Buddy McGirt told him to do, I think Chambers would have won a landslide decision, maybe even a late stoppage. His hand speed was way too much for Povetkin and in those first four rounds, Chambers landed at will. Yeah, he doesn't have knockout punching power, but as Floyd Mayweather proves, speed kills in boxing. Heavyweights never see that kind of hand speed and I can't think of anyone in the division who could really deal with it.
Problem was, as everyone saw, Chambers just stopped fighting after about round four. He showed hints of a comeback in round 10 when he straightened Povetkin up with a pinpoint uppercut. Unfortunately, he just backed off to, as they say, "admire his work" and that was the end of that.
If Chambers would actually FIGHT, I won't say he could beat Wlad who's just got too much size and power. But I think he would present some significant problems, just because of the hand speed and accuracy. If there's one flaw that we know Klitschko has, it's that he doesn't take getting hit very well. That's why Emanuel Steward taught him to clinch so much. I think Chamber would land a lot more shots on Klitschko than he's used to. Eventually, Wlad's vast size advantage would prove definitive. But I think it would be a good fight.
Unfortunately, Chambers looks like he just doesn't want to fight. Some boxers have that intangible thing that makes them love fighting. Others don't.
As for Povetkin, right now his management is trash-talking Klitschko, saying that Wlad's handlers will do anything to avoid fighting this mandatory (assuming as most everyone does that Wlad gets by Ibragimov on Feb. 23). I say, if Wlad doesn't want to fight Povetkin, that would be the best thing -- for Povetkin.
This guy's a pretty good young heavyweight, but he needs a LOT more experience before he gets in there with Klitschko. With his defense, or lack thereof, I don't know if he'd last as long as Ray Austin. I could see a highlight-reel knockout in that fight. If I were Povetkin's handlers, I'd put that fight off as long as I could and get my guy four or five more fights against decent, gatekeeper-type heavies of the Dominick Guinn-Jameel McCline variety, working his way up to someone like Calvin Brock or Hasim Rahman.
And then I STILL wouldn't put him in with Klitschko. I'd have him go for one of the other belts. Maybe give him a shot at Ruslan Chagaev (if Chagaev still holds his belt by that time). Assuming he wins, then and only then would I let him take a shot at Klitschko. By then Povetkin would have the high-level experience and Klitschko would be a couple of years older. So maybe the youngster would have an outside chance at that point.
