"Fast Eddie" Makes a Quick Run for the Top

Eddie Chambers (right) and Alexander Dimitrenko pose for the cameras after their fight for heavyweight bragging rights.

Trainer Rob Murray is the man most credited with engineering Eddie Chamber's stirring victory over Alexander Dimitrenko back on July 4th in Hamburg, Germany.

Murray managed to get Chambers into the best shape of his life and down to a svelte 208 ¼ pounds. The lighter weight enabled Chambers to win a majority decision over the previously undefeated Dimitrenko and vault himself into the upper echelon of the heavyweight division .

“Fast Eddie” had scaled as high as 224 pounds in the past and he had appeared a bit roly-poly in many of his recent fights. Despite the fact that Dimitrenko, a giant at 6'7” tall and over 250 pounds, was a much larger man than Chambers who stands 6'1” that was not of primary concern to Murray.

“Going into this fight, we worked on speed and that was the key,” said Murray who is still basking in the brilliant light of Chambers' victory. “I feel that speed is power and Eddie is one of the fastest heavyweights in the world – if not thee fastest heavyweight in the world.”

Most heavyweights in this day and age seem to be of the opinion that if they are outweighed by their opponent it is a disadvantage. But Murray figured that at a lighter weight his man would be more agile, quicker and in better shape than the lumbering Dimitrenko – and the veteran trainer's hunch proved right on the money.

“We have no problem fighting big guys,” continued Murray. “Big guys like Dimitrenko are slow and plodding and they can't get their arms out and that's where Eddie can get inside and use his speed, agility and movement. It also helps to make him a better defensive fighter, which you saw if you saw the fight. Eddie's speed makes him a very sharp, sharp puncher and it makes it so a very high percentage of the punches he throws land.”


Chambers used quick, stinging punches to keep the larger Dimitrenko off balance and out of the fight.

In defeating Dimitrenko, the smallish Chambers reminds some of Evander Holyfield, who was at a severe weight deficit in fights against much larger fighters such as Buster Douglas, George Foreman, Riddick Bowe and Nicolai Valuev where Holyfield was outweighed anywhere from 30 to nearly 100 pounds.

However, Holyfield was able to use his quick hands and top conditioning to befuddle many of the larger men – or at least be very competitive against them – and Murray figures Chambers can do the same.

It should come as no surprise then that Murray is more than ready to put Chambers in with two of the biggest fighters in the heavyweight division (literally and figuratively) the Klitschko brothers. Vitali is the WBC beltholder while younger brother Wladimir holds the IBF and WBO titles.

“What we plan on doing, is we would fight both Klitschkos,” said Murray. “Vitali Klitschko? We would beat Vitali and then we would fight the other Klitschko and we would beat that Klitschko, too. And then we'd fight any other Klitschko that might be out there.”

Murray has been around the boxing game a long time. In Chambers, who is only 27-years-old with a record of 35-1, 18KOs, he sees a fighter that can go all the way to the top – and then some. Murray envisions a wonderful ending to Chamber's boxing career – a career that seems like it is only now just beginning.

“Our journey together is going to end at the Hall of Fame,” said Murray.


July 2009