Chambers Meets Povetkin, Winner Gets Wlad

There has been a serious dearth of young heavyweight prospects to whet my whistle in recent years, and while I’m not counting down the minutes in breathless anticipation, I am the tiniest bit stoked about HBO’s Saturday Boxing After Dark offering.

Russian Alexander Povetkin meets the best young American heavyweight hopeful,  Eddie Chambers at 10:00 PM. (ET/PT), from the Tempodrome in Berlin, right after the  wallet-challenged tune in to see the Roy Jones takedown of Trinidad from last week.

Bob Papa, Max Kellerman and Lennox Lewis will be ringside for the heavyweight tangle, which pits two undefeateds looking to make some noise, and secure themselves a title shot.

2004 Olympic gold medalist Povetkin is 14-0, 11 KOs, while  Chambers is 30-0, 16 KOs; the bout is scheduled for 12, because it is an eliminator.

The former kickboxer Povetkin, age 28, is coming off an October 11th-round knockout of former heavyweight champion Chris Byrd.

The 25-year-old Pennsylvania native Chambers took a SD12 from vet Calvin Brock in November. He went up a notch in my eyes when he apologized to fans and viewers for his lackluster showing against Brock.

Winner gets his tail kicked, I mean, winner gets the opportunity to fight IBF champ Wladimir Klitschko should he get past Sultan Ibragimov on Feb. 23.