Sugar Ray Leonard went toe-to-toe with the dad of a former world title challenger.
In his glistening career, the boxing legend earned his status as one of the most talented competitors to have ever laced-up the gloves.
Renowned for his lightning hands, thunderous combinations and sublime defense, the Hall of Famer could make even the most fearsome of fighters look like mere novices.
However, long before his epic stint in the professional ranks, he competed in the amateurs, where he met the father of a future icon.
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Sugar Ray Leonard boxed Eddie Chambers’ dad in the amateurs
Eddie Chambers is undoubtedly one of the most gifted American heavyweight fighters of the last twenty years.
The sportsman, who was renowned for his incredible speed and fight IQ, was introduced to boxing by his father, Eddie Chambers Sr, who traded leather with Sugar Ray Leonard in the amateurs.
In an exclusive interview with Bloody Knockout, Chambers Jr exclaimed: “I wish I would’ve been able to see it. My dad told me about it. He had a number of chances to take on the great fighters from the past.
“He also had a chance to fight a guy from the Irish Olympic team. Back then, boxing was such a big part of life.”
Years after exchanging punches with a bona fide legend, Chambers Sr passed on the knowledge he learned to his son, who went on to win over 80 amateur fights and the Pennsylvania state heavyweight title.
The pair had remarkable memories on the road together, traveling around the boxing circuit, with the young fighter picking up big wins before eating Burger King on the way home.
And while it was tough at points, Chambers Jr cherishes the memories, believing those priceless experiences made him the fighter fans came to know and love.
The 42-year-old reminisced: “I didn’t go to many national tournaments, but I went to a lot of what they would call ‘fight shows’ in the amateurs. We’d go to surrounding areas, and we didn’t have the money to go to a lot of these tournaments, so we would go to the shows and fight people that were rated, and that you knew of.
“Even in my area, we used to have fights every week in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, at this one venue. I remember one week, it wasn’t even a tournament, and I fought five or six days in a row.
“We would travel and get Burger King on the way back. We were so poor; it was crazy. We had six fighters every single time we went somewhere. So, we had to take the expense money that was given to us to eat and get gas on the way back, because we literally maybe had barely just enough to get gas, so sometimes that expense money, and we would all get some, would get us back and get food.
“I wouldn’t trade that for anything, unless I was a basketball player, because I don’t think I would’ve gone that far in boxing without those humble beginnings.”
Eddie Chambers reveals what it’s really like to spar Tyson Fury
Chambers dazzled as a professional boxer, emerging victorious against Samuel Peter and Alexander Dimitrenko.
After forging a formidable reputation in the USA, ‘Fast’ headed to the UK, where he trained extensively with Tyson Fury.
The American warrior and ‘The Gypsy King’ went head-to-head in the gym on a number of occasions, with those at ringside blown away by the quality of what was going on inside the squared circle.
Now, Chambers has revealed what really happened during his sparring sessions with Fury.