Not exactly world breaking news but today it was officially announced that Wladimir
Klitschko 53-3 (47) will defend his IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles against WBO
number 1 contender Eddie Chambers 35-1 (18). The date will be March 20th and the
venue will be the Esprit arena in Dusseldorf, Germany. The Esprit arena will be set
up to hold a 51,000 maximum capacity.
Chambers, who is young for a heavyweight in the current scene at only 27 years old won an eliminator by travelling to Germany and beating Alexander Dimitrenko on a comprehensive decision. Dimitrenko has a similar physique to Klitschko, so there will probably be a lot of confidence from Chambers’ camp. However Wladimir will be a completely different proposition.
Both fighters commented today on the upcoming bout. Wladimir stated the following:
“I have only good memories of Düsseldorf, my only fight there I won by TKO. This fight is going to take place in a giant stadium. The audience of over 50,000 spectators is a further motivation for me. Chambers is currently the best heavyweight boxer from the US.” Klitschko will be used to such a big arena as there were over 60,000 fans when he defended against Ruslan Chagaev.
Chambers for his part said:
“I worked very hard for this championship fight. In the way I surprised Dimitrenko I am going to take Klitschko by surprise and will collect his three belts. This is a great chance. He is the favourite, but I am confident and will take his belts to the US.”
There is one big item to note about this fight that other promoters should take note of if hoping to fill out major sports arenas across the world. The Klitchsko management group have announced that tickets will start at only 20 Euros (£18 / $30) which is phenomenal value for money.
By JIMMY LAST (EDITOR)
