By Mark Vester

He may be older, at age 38, than his younger brother at age 33, but doesn't stop WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko from being a very active fighter. He stopped mandatory Juan Carlos Gomez in nine rounds in March, then last weekend he stopped unbeaten Chris Arreola after ten, and now Vitali looks to return on the tentative date of December 12 in Germany.

There are two names being mentioned for the opponent's position. Former champion Oleg Maskaev and undefeated Kevin Johnson (22-0, 9KOs). A few months ago Klitschko went through an arbitration with the WBC to avoid a mandated fight with Maskaev. The sanctioning body tried to make him fight two mandatories in back to back fashion. Vitali won and went forward with the title defense against Arreola. Maskaev is still there and still waiting. Vitali has to fight him sooner or later.

Kevin Johnson is another name at the top of Vitali's list. Johnson can box and actually has a two-inch reach advantage on Klitschko. He lacks a punch with only 9KOs on his record. Johnson has less experience in big fights than Arreola and he's four inches shorter. A fight with Maskaev is a slaughter. The "Big O," at age 40, has seen much better days. I can't see Johnson doing any better than Gomez or Arreola. The options are pretty slim at the moment.

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