By: Christopher Roche

“Fast” Eddie Chambers lived up to his ring alias in the early going. He came out peppering his larger foe with solid right hands. However, as the fight wore on, he could not overcome the work rate of Alexander Povetkin.

The bout, which was held in Berlin, Germany and broadcast on HBO’s “Boxing After Dark”, featured two undefeated heavyweight foes in an IBF title eliminator. Chambers, now 30-1, 16 KO’s, lost momentum in the middle rounds and did not recover it.

Buddy McGirt, who joined the team as a consultant, eventually stepped into the lead role and implored Chambers to throw more punches. At the stretch run, McGirt and Eddie Chambers, Sr., rotated back and forth as the chief advisors in the corner, and their message was the same. Chambers needed to get busy.

By the 12th round, McGirt flatly told the 25 year-old Chambers that he needed a knockout to win. Chambers is not huge puncher, and Povetkin, despite some bad swelling under his left eye (courtesy of some early right hands from Chambers), was never in danger of being knocked out. Povetkin seemed to tire very early, though, and he looked like he was having trouble breathing between rounds.

Povetkin’s work rate added some drama because it looked like he might punch himself out, but he never did. Povetkin threw roughly 100 punches per round, and while many of them were blocked or slipped, Chambers did not fire back enough to win many rounds.

The 28 year-old Povetkin, of Chekhov, Russia, went twelve rounds for the first time, and he won by margins of 117-111, 119-109 and 116-112. Povetkin improved to 15-0, 11 KO’s.