By Eric Thomas: IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (57-3, 50 KO’s) is hard at work trying to pump up his challenger 40-year-old Tony Thompson 36-2, 24 KO’s) so that boxing fans will want to watch their fight on July 7th at the Stade de Suisse, Berne, Switzerland.

On paper, this fight is a ridiculous mismatch, as Wladimir is younger, faster, stronger, taller and a much better all around fighter than the 40-year-old Thompson. But that’s not stopping Wladimir from building Thompson up as one of the top three heavyweights in the division.

Wladimir said to ESPN.co.uk “I will tell you this, Thompson will beat everyone. Everyone in the top ten but my brother [Vitali Klitschko]. Everyone. He is totally underestimated, nobody wants to fight him, because everyone knows it’s a real tough job. The way he fights it’s not impressive but it’s effective.”

What’s interesting about this is Wladimir built up his last overmatched opponent, 39-year-old Jean-Marc Mormeck, saying that he was like Mike Tyson. As it turned out, Mormeck was about as far away from Tyson that you’ll ever see. Mormeck was easily beaten by Wladimir by a 4th round TKO, and he only connected with a small handful of punches in the fight.

Wladimir already stopped the 6’5″ Thompson four years ago in an 11th round TKO of a one-sided fight in 2008. Thompson has faced weak opposition since that loss, beating five 2nd tier heavyweights by the names of Adnan Serin, Chazz Witherspoon, Owen Beck, Paul Marinaccio and Maurice Harris. It’s hard to understand how Wladimir knows how good Thompson is when Thompson hasn’t faced anyone good in four years. You’d have to suspect that Thompson’s skills haven’t gotten better since the last time that Wladimir fought him, and at 40, he’s going to be lucky if he can make it a few rounds without getting knocked out again.

I saw Thompson’s fight against Harris, and I was shocked at how slow Thompson has become. He’s lost whatever had speed he once had, and will be a sitting duck for Wladimir on July 7th.