By Andrey Krikunov
WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko commented on the recent knockout win by his brother Wladimir over Eddie Chambers. Wladimir retained his IBF, IBO and WBO belts. Vitali praised Eddie’s fitness which allowed him to last till the 12th round, but noted that the American should have been punished by the referee for his constant attempts at bodyslamming his brother.
“It looked more like wrestling”, - Vitali told to Blik newspaper. – “Such body slams are forbidden in boxing. And they can be counteracted only in one way – with knocking your opponent out. Actually I’m convinced that the referee should have penalized Chambers for his actions, because such slams can result in an injury of a boxer. After the first attempt referee should have warned Chambers and after the second – deduct point”.
Despite the fact that Chambers couldn’t do anything with Wladimirs jab and didn’t show anything spectacular, Vitali saw positive aspects in Eddie’s boxing.
“In the fight with Alexander Povetkin, Chambers lost only because he ran out of energy in the last rounds”, - thinks Vitali. – “But now he was perfectly fit and ready to go all the distance. He’s very much alike with Chris Byrd in his prime. With Wladimir, Eddie had to counterattack all the time. But Wladimir didn’t allow him to come close with the help of his jab and constant pressing. And all of Chambers’ efforts were in vain."
"The outcome was expected, though Wladimir dragged it out a little. His trainer Emanuel Steward told him after the 11th round: 'Stop playing, enough of civilized boxing. It’s to knock him out.' Because getting a win by decision over Chambers couldn’t give Wladimir what a win by knockout would give him. After the decision a lot of people would have discussed the difference in size, height and so on between my brother and Chambers. But Wladimir put everything into place and silenced the critics."
