By Armando Paz: There are really only two viable options for Wladimir Klitschko (54-3 48 KO’s) for his next defense of his heavyweight titles and that is either Alexander Povetkin (19-0 14 KO’s) or David Haye (24-1 22 KO’s). The boxing public is not going to be deceived with the winner of the Areola-Adamek match is a worthy match for Klitschko.

Chris Areola (28-1 25 KO’s) is a talented fighter with great power but has consistently come in bouts overweight. In fact, after his loss to Wladimir’s brother Vitali, he weighed 263 pounds for his fight with Brian Minto. That is an atrocious weight for any heavyweight contender, and let alone a fighter who just loss a heavyweight championship fight. In addition, Wladimir saw the fighting style of Areola and knows by using more or less the same style as Vitali he can cruise to a victory. Areola stayed too erect when he fought Vitali, a shorter fighter should get much lower in order to give his taller opponent a smaller target. This was the same mistake that Roberto Duran did when he fought Thomas Hearns and subsequently was knocked out in 2 rounds. A match with Areola is a travesty when the public knows that Haye and Povetkin are waiting at the wings.

Tomasz Adamek (40-1 27 KO’s) doesn’t have the power to match up with either Klitschko. The former Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight champion will have great difficulty with Wladimir’s reach advantage and heavy handed blows.

A hit and run strategy would have worked better against a stationary opponent as Nikolai Valuev. Wladimir is no Valuev; he has better foot work and lateral movement. This was displayed when Chris Byrd a fighter about the same size as Adamek would get countered when he would get offensive. Adamek has only two fights at heavyweight against an over the hill Andrew Golota and Jason Estrada. It took him 7 rounds to dispose a shot Golota and he had a sub par performance when he the distance with an overweight Julius Estrada. Adamek simply needs more heavyweight fights before he can think of fighting either Klitshcko. The added weight has resulted in loss of hand speed and power for Adamek.

Alexander Povetkin is the viable IBF mandatory challenger for Wladimir Klitshcko. He beat Eddie Chambers before Wladimir did. He has legitimate heavyweight power and skill to give Vladimir a game match. He was scheduled to fight Povetkin in the past but that fight was scratched, and Klitshcko ended up fighting a past prime Haseem Rahman. Teddy Atlas the trainer of Povetkin feels his fighter is ready after making comments that he wasn’t ready in the past. From a marketing perspective the fight will generate interest due to the Russian and Ukrainian rivalry. Promoters have used cultural, racial, and ethnic rivalries to gather greater interest in fights for decades. This was prominent during the days of Jack Johnson and the issue of “Great White Hope”, there was the infamous racial artwork by the New York Times depicting Johnson with an oversized Watermelon in his mouth. After Johnson beat James Jeffries there were racial riots that broke out in the United States. Eventually the rivalries would extend for years to extend to inter ethnic rivalries between Italians, Irish, Jews, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans. Of course, it seems like a cheap way to sell a fight but it like it or not; it works. In fact, that was part of the angle that was going to be used before the Vitali Klitscko and Nikolai Valuev negotiations broke down.

David Haye holds a WBA title and as consolidated a strong following in Great Britain. He has retained legitimate heavyweight power and still has the footwork and hand speed to fight bigger heavyweights. He certainly is a much more marketable fight than either Adamek or Areola. The heated exchanges and provocations between both camps make it the most anticipated heavyweight fight. We all remember when Haye sported a shirt displaying him holding the decapitated heads of both Klitschko brothers. There is debate whether Haye “ducked” both fighters when he pulled out of scheduled and proposed matches against them due to a back injury. Many felt he preferred to fight against Valuev since he was seen as the easier opponent. Now Wladimir has officially called out Haye but the question is will he allow an issue of the money split derail the fight as what happened between his brother and Valuev? In addition, will he be willing to give step aside money to Povetkin something Mike Tyson did with Lennox Lewis when he fought Bruce Seldon instead.

Unfortunately, the two best heavyweight champions today are brothers, and a match between them will never happen per Vitali Klitshcko.

He has stated “I will never fight my brother regardless of any major financial consideration.” This means that the public is now reduced to the best alternate fights for them.

Vitali Klitschko after refusing to budge on sharing German TV revenues with Nikolai Valuev will now fight Polish fighter Albert Sosnowski ( 45-2-1 27 KO’s) instead. Hopefully, we will get either a Wladimir Klitschko fight with either Povetkin or Haye next. The public won’t accept the two best heavyweight fighters reduced to fighting fringe contenders.