Photo credit: Pavel Terekhov – By Jim Dower: It’s scary sometimes when a totally over-matched opponent is acting and talking overly confident before a fight where they have almost zero chance of winning. This description would fit Polish heavyweight Alberto Sosnowski (45-2-1, 27 KO’s) perfectly as he prepares for Saturday’s fight against World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (39-2, 37 KO’s). In an article at Supersport.com, Sosnowski, 31, says “I am one hundred percent convinced that on Sunday I will be the new champion. I will be writing history.” If Sosnowski had actually beaten someone of worth in the top 15, I could understand his confidence.

But Sosnowski has had major problems when matched even against decent B level fighters. Sure, he’s built like champion but his physique doesn’t translate into huge power, fast hands or extraordinary boxing skills. Unfortunately, Sosnowski is all too ordinary and he’s going to have to be a lot better than that on Saturday if he wants to remain upright for long against Klitschko.

Just to be competitive with Klitschko, Sosnowski would have to have much more game than he’s shown in his fights against Zuri Lawrence, who beat him by an eight round decision in 2008, and Italian heavyweight Francesco Pianeta. In Sosnowski’s last fight in December, he dominated 39-year-old Paolo Vidoz, winning by a 12 round decision. That is the kind of heavyweight that Sosnowski can succeed against; Vitali is not. Sosnowski will do his part on Saturday, give Klitschko a few rounds, and then get buried under a pile of heavy blows.

Hopefully, Vitali will step up his competition a couple of levels and leave fighters like Sosnowski to the 2nd tier opposition so that he can continue building his impressive record on the backs of 2nd tier opposition. Klitschko needs to focus on trying to either get a fight with WBA heavyweight champion David Haye or the very least, taking on one of the top contenders like Tomasz Adamek or Odlanier Solis. The fight against Haye would still seem unlikely because Haye appears to want nothing to do with either of the Klitschko brothers. That fight will likely never happen unless Haye is down to the last fight of his career and he’s given a 50-50 split of the revenue. That won’t happen either. So Vitali will probably have to settle for taking on Solis or Adamek next, but there’s nothing wrong with those two fighters. Both of them might actually be better than Haye.