Eddie Chambers
Chambers in 2021
Born	Edward Chambers (1982-03-29)March 29, 1982 (age 43) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other names	Fast
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Reach	76.5 in (194 cm)
Stance	SouthPaw
Boxing record
Total fights	48
Wins	43
Wins by KO	24
Losses	5

Edward Chambers (born March 29, 1982) is an American formerprofessional boxer. He challenged once for a unified worldheavyweight title in 2010. He was ranked as the fourth best heavyweight in the world byThe Ring at the conclusion of 2009.^[1] A defensively-oriented fighter, Chambers has been widely credited for hiscounterpunching skills and particularly praised for his hand speed andfootwork.^[2][3][4] He has also been one of the first heavyweights with ability to switch between fightingorthodox andsouthpaw.

As anamateur, Chambers was trained by his father Eddie Chambers, Sr. In total, Chambers won over 80 bouts, winning the 1999 amateur Pennsylvania state heavyweight title.^[5]

Eddie made his professional boxing debut in 2000 at the age of 18, defeating Tyrone Austin by second-round TKO.^[6] In the span of five years, Chambers won 22 fights in a row before facing his first notable opponent,Ross Puritty, who had faced another prospectAlexander Dimitrenko six months prior in a losing effort.^[7] Chambers won the fight by unanimous decision (UD), with scores 99–91, 98–92 and 99–91. He then defeated local rival Robert Hawkins, winning the Pennsylvania heavyweight title.^[6] In 2006, Chambers faced another notable fighter, formerWBO world heavyweight title challenger Ed Mahone. Coming into the fight, Mahone had 23–6–2 record, with all of his wins coming inside the distance.^[8] Chambers won the fight by fourth-round TKO.^[8]

With a perfect 27–0 record, Chambers faced another undefeated fighter, 15–0Derric Rossy, for the USBA heavyweight title.^[9] Chambers dominated Rossy throughout the fight, ultimately giving him his first career loss after the referee stopped the fight in round 7, preventing battered and bruised Rossy from continuing absorbing punishment.^[10] Rossy eventually suffered his second loss at the hands ofAlexander Dimitrenko by fifth-round TKO.^[9] Meahwhile, Chambers faced his toughest challenge to date inDominick Guinn just three months later. Guinn, once described as "hot prospect" and viewed as one of the top-rising American heavyweight contenders,^[11][12] was 3–2–1 in his last six fights, losing toJames Toney andTony Thompson by unanimous decisions but defeating then-highly regarded prospest,Olympic Gold medalistAudley Harrison.^[13] Guinn was also known for his durability, having never been stopped in his entire career.^[14] Chambers defeated Guinn by a lopsided unanimous decision.^[13]

The win over Dominick Guinn earned Chambers a spot in the 4-man elimination tournament to faceWladimir Klitschko for theIBF world heavyweight championship. In semifinals, Chambers facedCalvin Brock, who had challenged Klitschko for the IBF title a year prior. Brock, who had beaten a handful of heavyweight contenders and prospects throughout his career, such asJameel McCline,Timur Ibragimov andClifford Etienne,^[15][16][17] claimed to be in the best shape of his career.^[18] Brock weighed in at 241 lbs, the heaviest in his entire career and almost 17 lbs heavier than in his bout against Klitschko.^[17] The additional weight appeared to be muscle.^[19]

The fight took place atEmerald Queen Casino inTacoma, Washington and was aired live onShowtime.^[19][20] Chambers appeared to have the upper hand in the fight, effectively using his hand speed and upper-body movement, and was declared the winner by split decision, with two judges scoring the bout 115–113 in favor of Chambers, while the third judge had the same score but in favor of Brock.^[20] Chambers damaged Brock's right eye during the bout, which, after subsequent botched surgery, prompted Brock to retire from the sport.

In the final, which took place less than three months later, Chambers faced undefeatedAlexander Povetkin, who had beaten former IBF world championChris Byrd in semifinals by eleventh-round TKO. The bout took place inBerlin,Germany. Chambers was doing the better work in early rounds, landing cleaner, harder shots, but was eventually overwhelmed by Povetkin's relentless pressure.^[21] Ultimately the bout went the distance, with Povetkin being declared the winner by unanimous decision. The scores were 117–111, 116–112 and 119–109.^[21]

After his fight with Povetkin he won three more bouts, including one againstRaphael Butler, before facingSamuel Peter on March 27, 2009. Peter, ranked No.6 heavyweight in the world byThe Ring, was 5-1 in the last six bouts, having had scored wins overJames Toney (twice) and former heavyweight contenderJameel McCline before beatingOleg Maskaev by sixth-round TKO to becomeWBC world heavyweight champion.^[22] Prior to facing Chambers, however, Peter had lost the world championship toVitali Klitschko, and was looking to bounce back to the heavyweight title picture.^[23] The fight took place atNokia Theatre inLos Angeles, and was aired onESPN2.^[24] Chambers injured his right thumb early in the third round, but was able to outbox Peter for the majority of the fight, frustrating his opponent with speed and quickness and blocking most of Peter's shots using his gloves and arms.^[25] As a result, Chambers was declared the winner by majority decision, with judges scoring the bout 99–91, 96–94 and 95–95. Some observers criticized the 95–95 score, believing Peter had not done enough to win more than three rounds.^[25][22]

A win over Peter lined Chambers up to fight 6 ft 7in tall, undefeatedAlexander Dimitrenko on July 4, 2009 in aWBO world heavyweight title eliminator. Coming into the bout, Dimitrenko had scored five stoppages in a row, with his most recent win against popular German boxerLuan Krasniqi.^[26] At the time of the fight, Chambers was ranked No.6 heavyweight contender byThe Ring, while Dimitrenko was ranked No.8 by the same publication.^[27] Dimitrenko was also ranked within top 5 by all major sanctioning bodies.^[28] Chambers weighed in at 208 1/4 lbs, the lightest since 2003. Chambers was outweighed by Dimitrenko by 45 1/2 lbs.^[6]

The fight took place atColor Line Arena inHamburg, Germany. It was Chambers' second fight in Germany. The event was televised byZDF.^[29] Unlike his previous fights, Chambers was the aggressor, taking the centre of the ring and constantly pressing Dimitrenko against the ropes.^[30] After putting pressure and slowing down Dimitrenko's left arm in the early rounds, Chambers established his rhythm by the fifth, successfully finding his way inside Dimitrenko's jab.^[31] Dimitrenko received a standing count in the seventh round after a left hook to the body, and was knocked down in the tenth after another left hook, this time to the chin.^[32][33] Chambers won the fight by majority decision. The judges scored the bout 117–109, 116–111 and 113–113, with some experts criticizing the 113–113 score.^[31][33]

The win made Chambers themandatory challenger for theWBO world heavyweight title held byWladimir Klitschko. In the build-up to the fight, Klitschko described Chambers as "the best American heavyweight right now".^[34] Coming into the bout, Chambers was ranked No.3 heavyweight contender byThe Ring, whereas Wladimir was the magazine's champion.^[35] In the pre-fight comparison of the fighters,The Ring gave Chambers the upper hand in speed and athletic ability, as well as defense, while crediting Klitschko as more powerful and experienced.^[35] The fight generated little interest in theUnited States, where it was not televised by any TV station but was aired on the Klitschko's official website instead.^[34] The official venue was the multi-functional football stadiumESPRIT Arena inDusseldorf, Germany.^[34][36]

The bout turned-out to be one-sided, with the champion winning rounds keeping Chambers at the end of his jab and occasionally throwing straight right hands.^[37] In the opening rounds, Chambers lifted Klitschko and took him down several times but was not deducted a point nor warned.^[37] In between the championship rounds, Klitschko was criticized by his trainerEmmanuel Steward for not fighting aggressively, despite comfortably winning on the scorecards.^[37][34] Klitschko picked up his pace during the final round and, with few seconds left, landed a left hook on Chambers' temple. Chambers fell partially through the ropes and was reportedly unconscious for a few minutes after the bout ended.^[38]

Chambers returned to the ring almost eleven months later, defeatingDerric Rossy again, this time by unanimous decision, in anIBF title eliminator.^[39] He was scheduled to faceTony Thompson on 28 October 2011 in a bout televised byShowtime, but had to pull out due to spinal injury.^[40][41] Chambers claimed to have problems with his back for an extended period of time, and that it finally caught up to him during preparation for the Thompson fight.^[42] He was then due to face formerWBO world heavyweight championSiarhei Liakhovich on 21 January 2012 atAsylum Arena in Philadelphia, in the inaugural main event of the Fight Night card televised byNBC Sports, but was forced to withdraw after fracturing his ribs during training camp.^[43][41]

Chambers returned to the ring sixteen months later, against formerWBClight-heavyweight andIBF andThe Ringcruiserweight championTomasz Adamek for the vacantIBF North American heavyweight title. Both Adamek and Chambers were praised for taking the fight with no world title nor mandatory position on the line, with Adamek trying to re-establish himself after the tenth-round TKO loss toVitali Klitschko.^[44][45] Coming into the fight, Adamek was ranked No.3 heavyweight contender byThe Ring, while Chambers, who had had only one fight in the last two years and three months, was unranked by the publication.^[46] The fight was the main event of the Fight Night card onNBC Sports. In the opening rounds, both fighters were trading shots, with Chambers landing the most meaningful punches. During the first round, Chambers torn his bicep in the left arm,^[47][48] and often switched between orthodox and southpaw stances throughout the rest of the fight, throwing shots almost exclusively with the right hand, mostly connecting with overhand punches.^[46][49] Adamek was more active since round 3, frequently switching up from counterpuncher to aggressor. The bout lasted full twelve rounds, with Adamek being declared the winner by unanimous decision with scores 116–112 (twice) and 119–109. Most observers thought that the bout was close, with many of them criticizing the 119–109 score.^[50][47] According to CompuBox, 1,381 punches were thrown, with Chambers landing 152 punches out of 462 thrown (32.9% accuracy), while Adamek landed 134 punches out of 919 (14.6%). Chambers outlanded Adamek in rounds 1–5, 7, 8, 10 and 11. He also landed more power shots in nine of the twelve rounds.^[51]

In early 2012, then undefeated prospectDeontay Wilder called out Chambers for a step-up fight along withDavid Price.^[52]By late 2012,Tyson Fury was in talks with promoterKathy Duva to fight Chambers in a similar step-up fight, however talks stalled due to the injury sustained in the Adamek fight.

Chambers made his return to the ring fourteen months later, moving down tocruiserweight to fightSouth African contenderThabiso Mchunu. Having had fought only twice in three and a half years prior to the bout, Chambers gave a relatively poor showing and lost the fight by unanimous decision.^[6]Enamored with his unique skill set, from 2013 to 2015, Chambers was signed by Team Fury and based in the United Kingdom trained by Peter Fury, who was then-trainer of unified heavyweight championTyson Fury, and heavyweight contenderHughie Fury. Chambers is credited with helping teachTyson Fury his defensive style of "slick American boxing".^[53] After failing to secure any major world title shots despite being ranked in the top five in the world by multiple sanctioning organizations, Chambers then signed with managerAl Haymon and made his U.S. return in late 2015, defeating journeyman Galen Brown by third-round TKO.^[54][6] He then facedGerald Washington onPremier Boxing Champions onFox, losing the bout by a lopsided unanimous decision. Following the loss, Chambers subsequently retired from the sport.

On November 17, 2017, World Heavyweight ChampionAnthony Joshua called out and sent Chambers a threatening racist-filled message calling him a "Disgrace to the superior black race", in hopes to lure Chambers back into the ring after years of back-and-forth messages exchanged through the UK boxing media.^{[citation needed]} Former sparring partner and team memberTyson Fury came on record defending Chambers saying that Joshua finally showed his true colors.^{[citation needed]}

On February 7, 2023, at age 40, Chambers made his return to the ring after a near 7 year lay-off with a 3rd-round TKO victory against Corey Williams. Chambers weighed in as a heavyweight at 226 ¾ lbs. Per trainers James Ali Bashir and Steve Upsher, Chambers will look to compete at heavyweight but keep close attention to a newer WBC weight class ofbridgerweight, which falls between 200 and 224-pounds.

Chambers appeared in the 2006 video gameFight Night Round 4, as well asFight Night Champion. He also commentated for the UK boxing TV channelBoxNation, and makes occasional appearances as a panelist on the BoxHard Podcast. Eddie also appears frequently on theCoach Anthony YouTube channel and instructional videos.

• Boxing record for Eddie Chambers fromBoxRec(registration required)

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