Chamberlain, 16-1 (12 KOs), has been one of the unexpected success stories but after dominating Gavin Gwynne and Joshua Wahab on his previous Riyadh Season appearances, he found the underrated Padley a far more difficult prospect.
The naturally smaller Padley, 15-0 (4 KOs), had clearly decided that his best bet was to put the excitement of the week behind him, suck the drama out of the contest and draw Chamberlain’s sting, and he boxed cleverly in the opener, making the big-punching Chamberlain pay for repeatedly leaving his feet behind and over-reaching.
Chamberlain is noted for his accuracy and smart punch selection but he struggled to find the mark regularly as Padley’s tactic of inching backwards caused him to fall short. Chamberlain started to impose himself a little more in the second – scoring with that accurate southpaw left – but the 28 year old from Doncaster had settled into a rhythm and continually scored with a short chopping right when they found themselves working inside.
Chamberlain was a major favourite heading into the fight but Padley was posing him plenty of questions technically. He emerged from one clinch with blood pouring from a vertical cut over his right eyebrow after a clash of heads and he had an expression of frustration on his face that was compounded in the fourth when a short shot left him with a second, more serious, cut over the same eye.
Badly needing to inject some pace and variety into his attacks, Chamberlain tried to use his double jab at the start of the fifth but it was Padley who scored with a snappy combination to open the round and he rocked Chamberlain’s head back with a fine jab as the taller man once again fell in. Padley wasn’t running; instead he was making short, precise movements and capitalising on Chamberlain’s mistakes.
Finally Chamberlain found one of his accurate straight left hands at the start of the sixth. His attacks were one-paced but he was starting to give the impression of being the man controlling the range of the fight. Padley had begun to slow down but he was able to pick his counters and gave no impression of being troubled by Chamberlain’s much vaunted power.
After seven rounds, Padley’s corner hammered home to him the fact that he was nine minutes away from changing his life but there was the definite impression that Chamberlain’s size was beginning to tell. Padley listened to their advice; he answered the bell for the eighth and dropped Chamberlain with a short left hook. Chamberlain got up but his head hadn’t cleared, and Padley safely banked another round.
A major shock was becoming more and more likely. Chamberlain had been unable to string together any success consistently and now found himself chasing Padley, who could see the finish line. Things became even more desperate for Chamberlain because, after a number of warnings, he had a point deducted for rough inside work in the ninth, and he found it near-impossible to string together any consistent, accurate work.
With the biggest moment of his career within reach, Padley didn’t tighten up. He stayed out of trouble in the 10th round, negating Chamberlain’s scrappy efforts and making it to the final bell.
Bob Williams scored the fight 95-93, while Keiran McCann and Kevin Parker both had it 96-92, all in favour of Padley, who was outstanding on the type of stage he could have only ever previously dreamed of gracing.
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