Eddie Chambers

 ( Living People ) 

With a perfect 27–0 record, Chambers faced another undefeated fighter, 15–0 Derric Rossy, for the USBA heavyweight title. Chambers dominated Rossy throughout the fight, ultimately giving him his first career loss after the referee stopped the fight in round 7, preventing battered and bruised Rossy from continuing absorbing punishment. Rossy eventually suffered his second loss at the hands of Alexander Dimitrenko by fifth-round TKO. Meahwhile, Chambers faced his toughest challenge to date in Dominick Guinn just three months later. Guinn, once described as "hot prospect" and viewed as one of the top-rising American heavyweight contenders,

The win over Dominick Guinn earned Chambers a spot in the 4-man elimination tournament to face Wladimir Klitschko for the IBF world heavyweight championship. In semifinals, Chambers faced Calvin Brock, who had challenged Klitschko for the IBF title a year prior. Brock, who had beaten a handful of heavyweight contenders and prospects throughout his career, such as Jameel McCline, Timur Ibragimov and Clifford Etienne, claimed to be in the best shape of his career. Brock weighed in at 241 lbs, the heaviest in his entire career and almost 17 lbs heavier than in his bout against Klitschko. The additional weight appeared to be muscle.

The fight took place at Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington and was aired live on Showtime. Chambers appeared to have the upper hand in the fight, effectively using his hand speed and upper-body movement, and was declared the winner by split decision, with two judges scoring the bout 115–113 in favor of Chambers, while the third judge had the same score but in favor of Brock. Chambers damaged Brock's right eye during the bout, which, after subsequent botched surgery, prompted Brock to retire from the sport.

In the final, which took place less than three months later, Chambers faced undefeated Alexander Povetkin, who had beaten former IBF world champion Chris Byrd in semifinals by eleventh-round TKO. The bout took place in Berlin, Germany. Chambers was doing the better work in early rounds, landing cleaner, harder shots, but was eventually overwhelmed by Povetkin's relentless pressure. Ultimately the bout went the distance, with Povetkin being declared the winner by unanimous decision. The scores were 117–111, 116–112 and 119–109.

After his fight with Povetkin he won three more bouts, including one against Raphael Butler, before facing Samuel Peter on March 27, 2009. Peter, ranked No.6 heavyweight in the world by The Ring, was 5-1 in the last six bouts, having had scored wins over James Toney (twice) and former heavyweight contender Jameel McCline before beating Oleg Maskaev by sixth-round TKO to become WBC world heavyweight champion. Prior to facing Chambers, however, Peter had lost the world championship to Vitali Klitschko, and was looking to bounce back to the heavyweight title picture. The fight took place at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, and was aired on ESPN2. Chambers injured his right thumb early in the third round, but was able to outbox Peter for the majority of the fight, frustrating his opponent with speed and quickness and blocking most of Peter's shots using his gloves and arms. As a result, Chambers was declared the winner by majority decision, with judges scoring the bout 99–91, 96–94 and 95–95. Some observers criticized the 95–95 score, believing Peter had not done enough to win more than three rounds.

A win over Peter lined Chambers up to fight 6 ft 7in tall, undefeated Alexander Dimitrenko on July 4, 2009 in a WBO world heavyweight title eliminator. Coming into the bout, Dimitrenko had scored five stoppages in a row, with his most recent win against popular German boxer Luan Krasniqi. At the time of the fight, Chambers was ranked No.6 heavyweight contender by The Ring, while Dimitrenko was ranked No.8 by the same publication. Dimitrenko was also ranked within top 5 by all major sanctioning bodies. Chambers weighed in at 208 1/4 lbs, the lightest since 2003. Chambers was outweighed by Dimitrenko by 45 1/2 lbs.

The fight took place at Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany. It was Chambers' second fight in Germany. The event was televised by ZDF. Unlike his previous fights, Chambers was the aggressor, taking the centre of the ring and constantly pressing Dimitrenko against the ropes. After putting pressure and slowing down Dimitrenko's left arm in the early rounds, Chambers established his rhythm by the fifth, successfully finding his way inside Dimitrenko's jab. Dimitrenko received a standing count in the seventh round after a left hook to the body, and was knocked down in the tenth after another left hook, this time to the chin. Chambers won the fight by majority decision. The judges scored the bout 117–109, 116–111 and 113–113, with some experts criticizing the 113–113 score.