By Jim Dower: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) could be facing heavyweight contender David Tua (51-3-2, 43 KO’s) next on December 11th, according to the latest boxing news. Klitschko, 34, defeated Samuel Peter last Saturday night in a relatively easy 10th round stoppage and Wladimir wants to get back in the ring quickly for one more fight before the end of the year.

Tua, 37, as well as Jean Marc Mormeck, are two of the names that Klitschko is considering for his next fight. Tua would be interesting because he has big power in each hand and could potentially knock Wladimir out if Tua were able to land any of his big shots.

However, as we just saw with Peter, it’s not easy for shorter heavyweights to connect with Wladimir’s chin with any regularity. At 5’9”, Tua would be giving up nine inches in height and 11 inches in reach. That’s nearly a foot of reach that Tua would have to deal with in trying to get his shots in against Wladimir.

In his fight with Peter, Wladimir used his left hand as a stick to keep Peter on the outside by holding his left hand outstretched any time Peter would come close. You can bet that Wladimir would do the same thing with Tua, who is even shorter than Peter.

This could end up being a really bad mismatch and much worse than the Peter vs. Klitschko fight. I have my doubts that Tua would even take the fight. He’s been very selective in choosing opponents since making his comeback.

I can see Tua waiting for a shot against WBA heavyweight champion David Haye and then blowing even that shot if Tua gets beaten while fighting scrubs. Tua was almost beaten in his last fight against journeyman Monte Barrett in July. Tua was knocked down in the 12th and ended up having to salvage a 12 round draw in that fight.

Tua is a big puncher, but he’s not much of a boxer and unless he can connect with his shots against Wladimir, he’s probably going to be in for a long night. I see this fight being about as bad a mismatch as Wladimir’s fights against Eddie Chambers and Peter.

Tua is just too short and has been out of action against top tier fighters for too long to beat a guy like Wladimir. This fight is almost not even fair because Tua is just too handicapped by his limited height and his lack of experience against quality opposition since being blown out by Lennox Lewis 10 years ago.