Photo credit: Sumio Yamada – By Dan Ambrose: World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (40-2, 38 KO’s) didn’t have to fight Alberto Sosnowski (45-3-2, 27 KO’s) last Saturday night. Klitschko could have selected a more dangerous and qualified opponent like Odlanier Solis. Instead, Klitschko chose number #11 ranked Sosnowski to fight in front of a large German crowd at the Veltins Arena, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

The fight turned out to be a huge bore and a total mismatch with Vitali dominating from start to finish in an 10th round TKO win. The fight was so one-sided, however, that Vitali wasn’t really pushed and was able to fight at half speed through much of it until he came on in the 9th and 10th rounds to first punish and the finish off the 31-year-old Sosnowski.

While it’s common historically for heavyweight champions to select the easiest opponent available in the top 15 for their optional defenses, it wasn’t a good move for Vitali because he has experienced problems attracting fans because of his dull fights. What Klitschko needed in this case was a fighter that could at least challenge him a little and make him have to exert himself to win.

Sosnowski wasn’t that type of fighting, because he didn’t have the size, speed or power to keep Vitali honest. Klitschko says he’d like to face WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, but that’s not a very realistic option. Haye, a good fighter but unproven, doesn’t appear at interested in fighting Vitali. As such, Vitali needs to face the next best fighter that the WBC has ranked and that would be Solis.

It would likely be a huge mismatch as well for Vitali if he faces Solis, but at least Solis has the hand speed and the popularity, at least in Germany, to make things interesting for the 6’7” Vitali for awhile. The main drawback for Solis, besides his lack of height, is the weight that he’s put on since turning pro in 2005. Solis weighed a slender 200 pounds while winning the Olympic heavyweight gold medal in 2004.

But he’s put on a mountain of blubber on his body and now weighs 270+. Solis’ hand speed remains top notch, but with all that fat on him, he doesn’t move as well as he used to before he started fattening up. But he is very aggressive, powerful and fast and could likely give Vitali a good run for the money for five or six rounds before getting stopped. But Vitali has to step it up a level with his competition or he may just turn off the few fans that he has in the sport.