World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko saw off the challenge of 'Fast' Eddie Chambers with a 12th-round knockout in Germany.
Champion secures 12th-round knockout in Duesseldorf
World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko saw off the challenge of 'Fast' Eddie Chambers with a 12th-round knockout in Duesseldorf.
The giant Ukrainian won the bout with five seconds remaining when a relatively unspectacular left hook caught an exhausted Chambers on the head and left him hanging over the bottom rope, clearly out for the count.
The 33-year-old put his IBF, WBO and Ring heavyweight titles on the line against the American, who had a record of 35 wins out of 36 fights going into the contest.
But he was never in danger of failing to keep hold of his belts and looked to be cruising towards a pedestrian but lop-sided points win until his knock-out blow.
The champion, boasting a significant height and reach advantage over the 27-year-old American, dictated with the jab but did not have it all his own way.
Lifted
Indeed, midway through the first as the fighters went to clinch, Chambers bent forward and lifted the veteran in the air.
The challenger was pushing his luck and repeated the trick in the second round, going a step further by deliberately dumping Klitschko on the floor.
But the champion had his revenge, though, as Chambers' legs turned to jelly after a trademark right hand crashed found its target. However, the American held on to see out the round.
A better third for Chambers was still clearly won by the 'home' fighter, with the challenger's handspeed not matched by his footwork.
The unimaginative jab and straight right combination was as effective as usual for Klitschko, while Chambers landed a left hook-right hand in the fourth, but it represented his only success.
Pattern continued
That pattern continued into the sixth round, Chambers - marked up around the left eye - drawing a scolding from his corner for his passive performance. To his credit, he threw the left hook whenever an opportunity presented itself.
Klitschko did what he does best in the seventh, throwing multiple jabs followed by the piercing straight right. Chambers' defence was solid and his appetite for the fight clear, but there remained an air of futility to his cause.
A split in one of Chambers' gloves meant it needed to be replaced before the 10th - to the crowd's ire - and when the round got under way it was more of the same with the challenger reluctant to throw caution to the wind.
Even Klitschko's trainer Emmanuel Steward was frustrated, berating his charge for a lack of aggression.
In the final round he pushed for a stoppage and landed some good shots. Chambers handled them all well until the closing seconds, when the American took a left hand which knocked him clean out until he was able to sit after a couple of minutes.
