Chambers Tops Peter

Fans who came into last night’s FNF headliner, hoping the bout between Fast Eddie Chambers and Sam Peter might breathe a little life into the heavyweight division had to be disappointed with what they saw. Chambers got the win by scores of 99-91, 96-94 and 95-95, but it was an uninspiring performance, in what really looked like the perfect situation for him to impress.

Peter, who came in at a career high 265 pounds was huffing and puffing by the mid rounds, and seemed ready for the taking, only Chambers never put his foot on the gas. Instead, the slick Philly based fighter appeared perfectly content to do just enough to get the win, and in the process very nearly gave the fight away to his laboring opponent.

After the fight, he told Teddy Atlas that he was thinking too much. That’s a reasonable explanation, but it also begs the question that if he’s thinking too much with an overweight and badly gassed Sam Peter coming at him, what does that say about his chances against better opposition?

Atlas kept pointing out during the bout how many opportunities there were for Chambers to nail home his right hand. Whether it was countering after Peter brought his left back low after throwing a jab, or following up his own jab with a right hand – the chances for Chambers to snap home rights were there all night.

Yet, rarely did Chambers do anything other than fire off his jab – and not nearly enough of them - while circling out of the way of Peter’s ponderous attack.

Finally in the ninth round, Chambers raised the level of his intensity and opened up a little with very good results. Unfortunately, he couldn’t sustain that energy until the finish, and again reverted back to doing just enough to get by in the tenth.

While Peter's weight was embarrassingly high, he really worked hard until the final bell. Breathing heavily throughout, he kept plugging away, and nearly came away with a draw in a fight that shouldn’t have been close. If he brings that kind of effort into his training camp, he can beat a lot of good heavyweights.

As for Chambers, if his desire can catch up to his talent, he could make some noise against the very best in the division. But this kind of effort won't get it done.

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