By Sean McDaniel: WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (44-2, 40 KO’s) is facing another big puncher in his next fight against unbeaten Manuel Charr (21-0, 11 KO’s) of Germany on September 8th on HBO at the Olimpiyskiy, in Moscow, Russia.

Charr, 27, is a lot like Vitali’s last opponent Dereck Chisora, only that Charr tends to put his punches together a little better than Chisora and has a better work rate. Chisora’s low work rate may have saved Vitali from facing serious calamity because the then 40-year-old Vitali was there for the taking when he gassed out halfway through the fight due to the constant pressure that Chisora was putting on him.

Chisora handcuffed himself by throwing mostly wide shots that Vitali was able to get away from for the most part. Chisora’s low work rate also really saved Vitali because he didn’t have to worry about constant incoming bombs. But still, Chisora’s occasional big shots had Vitali plenty worried and an uncomfortable.

Charr, 6’3 250 lbs, is a lot more rugged than most of the guys that Vitali has been facing as of late. Charr can take a heck of a shot, as he showed in his wins over Taras Bydenko and Marcelo Luiz Nascimento, both of whom can really punch with good power. Charr took their best shots and just walked right through them to land huge shots against both guys. Bydenko showed a good chin by being able to stand up to Charr’s best shots. However, Nascimento was taken out in the 8th round from some big right hands from Charr.

Vitali doesn’t punch with the kind of power that Charr was getting hit by in both of those fights. What makes Vitali so good is his 6’7″ height, which allows him to hit his opponents without being hit in return all that much. However, that only works when his opponents don’t keep marching forward and instead stay on the outside. If they’re willing to take Vitali’s best shots in order to deliver their own punches, Vitali stresses out and has problems.

That’s where Charr comes in. He’s got the chin and the power to put Vitali in a bad place where he’s feeling the heat like he did when he quit against Chris Byrd in 2000. All Charr has to do is to keep that pressure steady for as long as possible and not back up on Vitali to let him fight on the outside. Vitali’s 41 now and he’s really slipped badly in the last year to where he’s now very beatable if an opponent is able to push the fight at a fast pace that his body can no longer handle due to age.