By Dan Ambrose: Recently, the boxing world has seen a number of 38-year-old fighters grow old overnight and lose badly. First there was 38-year-old John Ruiz, who was destroyed by David Haye in nine rounds. Then on May 1st, 38-year-old Shane Mosley got dominated by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a 12 round decision defeat. On May 29th, 38-year-old WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (39-2, 37 KO’s) will be defending his title against Alberto Sosnowski (45-2-1, 27 KO’s) in Germany. The fight will take place in a large stadium and they expect at least 50,000 fans to show up to watch the fight.
There would likely be even more if Klitschko had chosen a more dangerous and better known opponent rather than the #12 ranked WBA contender Sosnowski. On paper, this fight looks like a terrible mismatch because Klitschko has much more experience against high caliber opposition compared to Sosnowski. That alone would make you think that this fight will be a huge mismatch. However, you have to take into account Vitali’s advanced age and his recent less than impressive performance against American Kevin Johnson in his last fight. Vitali didn’t look at all good in that fight and appeared to have aged and slowed down from his previous fight against Chris Arreola in 2009.
Sosnowski, 29, is almost a decade younger than Vitali, and while he may not be nearly as tall as the 6’7” Vitali, he could give him a lot of trouble if he can get in close and throw a lot of punches. When you have an older fighter like Vitali with as many miles on his body as he has, things can break down if he gets pushed hard by Sosnowski and forced to fight at a too high a pace for his aging body to keep up at a high pace. Sosnowski will have to be able to take the big shots from Vitali for him to get into the later rounds, and that’s the tricky part.
If Vitali is able to land his slow right hands and left hooks, it’s doubtful that Sosnowksi will be able to take the shots for long without getting stopped. But if he can move his head, make Vitali miss enough, he could tire him out the same way that Chris Byrd did a decade ago in 2000. Klitschko is a lot older now and isn’t the same fighter he once was. Sosnowski has to move his head, keep throwing a lot of punches and make Klitschko use up his energy fast.
If he can get him tried out by the 8th or 9th rounds, Sosnowski will have a chance of possibly stopping Vitali. It’s not likely, of course, put there’s a possibility there if he fights the perfect fight. Sosnowski has to do everything to plan, because if he veers off course and is there to be hit, Vitali will park him on the canvas before long. Vitali doesn’t have to be perfect to win this fight. He probably win it by just coasting if wants, but Sosnowski could make things difficult for him if he fights the best fight of his life on May 29th.
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