By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Wladimir Klitschko last tasted defeat in April of 2004 when he was knocked out in the fifth-round by American Lamon Brewster of Los Angeles.
Since then the 6-foot-6, 244-pound Ukrainian-born heavyweight has racked up some impeccable statistics.
On Saturday with five seconds left in the bout, the Kiev native scored his 12th straight victory, his ninth knockout during that time, and his fourth consecutive stoppage with a 12th-round left hook that permanently floored previously, once-beaten, Philadelphia challenger, "Fast" Eddie Chambers in front of a screaming, sold out crowd of about 51,000 at Esprit Arena in Duesseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
In vanquishing Chambers, the 33-year-old Klitschko (54-3) scored the 48th knockout of his career, defending for the eighth time the IBF crown that he won from American Chris Byrd in April of 2006 and for the fourth time, the WBO belt that he earned from Sultan Ibragimov in February of 2008.
"Chambers is an extraordinary boxer. He is very, very quick and preemptive. But in the last rounds, I gave everything, and I am very happy about the result," Klitschko told FanHouse in an e-mail from team spokesman Klaus-Peter Dittrich Esprit Arena in Duesseldorf.
"To me Chambers gave up mentally after round six," said Klitschko, who likely won every round. "It is hard to hit somebody who is very passive and tries not to be knocked out."
Klitschko weighed 244 pounds compared to 209 for the 6-foot-1, 27-year-old Chambers (35-2, 18 KOs), meaning that he had a weight advantage of 35 pounds as well as advantage of nearly six inches over a man whose five-bout winning streak -- including two knockouts -- was ended.
"I knew about his quick right hand, but I could not do anything against it," said Chambers, who was stopped for the first time in his career and hospitalized after the fight.
"When I lifted him up, I wanted to take him out of his fight plan," said Chambers, referring to his lifting up and slamming Klitscho to the canvas in the second round. "I cannot remember the knockout."
Chambers' last previous loss was on January 2008 to 6-foot-2, 30-year-old Russian Alexander Povetkin (18-0, 13 KOs) in Berlin, Germany.
Chambers was coming off a July 4, unanimous decision victory over Ukrainian Alexander Dimitrenko, who lost for the first time in 30 bouts before a crowd partisan to Dimitrenko in Hamburg, Germany.
In triumph, Klitschko made sure that America's drought of failed heavyweight title attempts against him was maintained.
Chambers was the eighth American Klitschko has beaten during his scintillating run, joining Byrd, Brewster, Davarryl Williamson, Calvin Brock, Ray Austin, Tony Thompson and former world champion, Hasim Rahman, among the list of U.S. fighters he has beaten.
Like Chambers, Byrd, Brewster, Brock, Austin, Thompson and Rahman were knocked out, with Williams falling by fifth-round, technical decision.
Klitschko's older brother, 38-year-old Vitali Klitschko (39-2, 37 KOs), holds the WBC belt. And England's 6-3, 29-year-old David Haye (23-1, 21 KOs) is the WBA champion.
The last American to wear a version of the heavyweight belt was Shannon Briggs, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who earned the WBO crown via 12th-round knockout over Sergey Lyakhovich in November of 2006, but was dethroned in June of 2007 by Ibragimov via 12-round, unanimous decision.
John Ruiz held the WBA crown in 2005. And in 2006, Rahman and Byrd, respectively, were champions with the WBC, and, IBF.
And there's more.
Ibragimov, Brock, Eliseo Castillo, Samuel Peter, and, Ruslan Chagaev are among the five previously unbeaten fighters who lost for the first time to Klitschko during his winning spree.
Brock, Castillo and Chagaev were knocked out, with Peter, like Ibragimov, losing a decision.
Klitschko now turns his attention to his next defense, which could come against Povetkin (19-0, 14 KOs), who is the mandatory challenger, or Peter (34-3, 27 KOs)
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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