by David P. Greisman

Eddie Chambers and his team felt that there wasn’t much footage available of his next opponent, South African cruiserweight Thabiso Mchunu.

So they studied what video of Mchunu they did have, examined what potentially could be exploited, and then looked for other fighters and fights that would compare — and help them prepare.

“What I tend to do when we look at a certain fighter that we’re facing is to try to find fighters that resembles myself fighting someone that resembles the fighter I’m facing.”

Chambers said he examined Mchunu’s stance and style.

“Even though it’s difficult to find video of him, we’ll still be 100 percent prepared for him,” he said.

One of the other bouts they watched was the cruiserweight war between James Toney and Vassiliy Jirov, according to Chambers’ trainer, James Ali Bashir.

“This is a fight of that nature where there’s going to be an aggressive guy against a smooth boxer,” Bashir said. “Most of his fights have been in South Africa, and he hasn’t seen the kind of versatility that he’ll see with Eddie Chambers. He’ll have to make adjustments in the ring, too.

“I feel that he’s a shorter guy,” Bashir said of Mchunu. “That’s no secret. He’s going to have to bring the fight to Eddie. And in doing so, he’ll present a lot of opportunity for Eddie. One of the fights that we’ve paid particular attention to was Eddie Mustafa Muhammad vs. Marvin Johnson, where you’ve got an aggressive, heavy-handed southpaw coming forward, but in doing so they all leave opportunities to punch. You’re not going to walk in and bomb a guy like Eddie Chambers out. You’re going to have to eat some to get some. It’s a fight. We welcome the fight.”

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter @fightingwords2 or send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com