Fast Eddie Chambers Wins By Majority Decision

LOS ANGELES-Fast Eddie Chambers proved he belongs with the big boys in winning by majority decision over former heavyweight world champion Samuel Peter in a back and forth battle on Friday.

Though he looked much smaller than the man mountain Peter (30-3, 23 KOs), Philadelphia’s Chambers showed the fans at Nokia Theater that a small heavyweight still has a place among the bigger trees by utilizing speed and precision.

“I can do a lot better,” said Chambers (34-1, 18 KOs) after the win.

Who’s next for Chambers?

In the first two rounds Peter and Chambers fought on equal footing, then the Nigerian fighters leg tired and the quicker Chambers took over. Jabs and counter right hands found the mark on the bigger fighter.

Peter’s rebounded toward the end of the fourth round and won the fifth and sixth rounds by using a stiff jab that quieted Chamber’s punch output.

Chambers turned the fight back in his favor with some head-shocking right hand counters and forced Peter to move backward in the seventh round. From then on, though the former champion never stopped punching, it was the smaller Chambers who landed more effectively.

With the fight seemingly close, Chambers landed a perfect right hand counter that wobbled Peter’s leg slightly and captured the last round.

“If I had been a little more aggressive I could have taken him out of there,” Chambers said.

The judges scored it a majority decision with Marty Denkin tabbing it 95-95, Max De Luca 96-94 and Ray Corona 99-91 for Chambers.

Peter disagreed with the scorecards.

“I’m very disappointed with the judges,” said Peter. “I pressed Chambers the whole fight.”

Semi-main event

In his first local televised fight John “Covina Kid” Molina fought Newark’s Carlos Vinan in a toe-to-toe fight and struggled to find breathing room at first. But some well placed body shots slowed down the aggressiveness. By round two, most of the air had been sucked out of Vinan as Molina rained big blows. Referee David Mendoza stopped the fight at 2:40 of the second round in the junior lightweight contest.

‘He could take a hell of a shot,” said Molina who slammed some vicious blows on Vinan but never dropped the gutsy fighter. “We weren’t playing patty cakes in there.”

Molina, who has accumulated a large fan base, was one of the crowd favorites in the fight card held in the new theater. It was a showcase for the Southern Californian to make a bid for a world title bid.

“My goal is to be a world champion,” said Molina. “I’m not interested in just being a top contender.”

Olympians

Shawn Estrada (3-0, 3 KOs), the former U.S. Olympian, showed his pedigree in dropping Oakland’s Ray Craig (5-5) in 1:41 of the very first round of the super middleweight bout scheduled for four rounds. It was the East L.A. fighter’s third knockout in three fights. A left hook did the damage on all three knockouts forcing referee James Jen Kin to halt the fight.

“I’m walking around with a target on my back because I’m a U.S. Olympian,” said Estrada.

Another U.S. Olympian making his pro debut was Javier Molina (1-0) who immediately showed his boxing prowess against debuting Jaime Cabrera in a junior welterweight fight. Two right hands dropped Cabrera in the second round. He survived but was knocked down for good with a left uppercut and left hook combination in the second round. Referee James Jen Kin stopped the fight at 1:05.

“He’s learning the pro game,” said Roberto Luna, who trains Molina. “The second round was his pro round.”

California’s Ismayl Sillakh (7-0, 6 KOs) via the Ukraine dismantled Arizona’s Carlos Reyes (4-2, 2 KOs) and ultimately knocked him out with a powerful right hand to the body at 1:42 of the third round of the light heavyweight fight.

Francisco Santana (10-1, 5 KOs) won by decision over Antonio Johnson (7-1-1) in a junior middleweight bout.