Paul Lewis: Bring on the true world contenders

Boxing being what it is - five parts bluster, four parts build-up, one part contest - attention will inevitably turn to David Tua's next steps after last night's quickfire Tua-Cameron bout.

Both fighters were heavily steeped in hype about their global prospects - the winner supposedly a possible contender for a title shot and a long, silent drop into anonymity for the loser - the fact remains that they are players in a heavyweight boxing division which is a strange mix of monopoly and opportunity.

Monopoly because there are really only two contenders for the title of best heavyweight on the planet - both of them called Klitschko.

Ukrainian brothers Wladimir and Vitali are really so far ahead of the rest of the field that anything billed as a heavyweight title fight which doesn't contain one (and preferably both) of these characters is a joke.

Even boxing's infamous alphabet soup of competing organisations - in themselves a joke, only not very funny - nearly all agree that the Klitschkos are top of the heap.

Older brother Vitali (38) was top dog but was injured, retired, and has recently come back - in convincing fashion. Wladimir (33) is rated world champion by the WBO, IBO and IBF, while Vitali is ranked champ by the WBC.

The WBA say 2.13m Russian Nikolay Valuev is world champion but few believe it.

Ring Magazine, supposedly the objective face of boxing rankings, rates Wladimir Klitschko as the best.

What all this means is that there is really only one heavyweight fight worth a damn - Klitschko vs Klitschko.

So there's no hope for David Tua then after his stirring win over Shane Cameron?

Well, yes and no. Boxing seldom moves in such a logical way as Klitschko vs Klitschko.

For a start, the brothers have always been reticent about fighting each other. The rivalry and politics between the various organisations also means unification fights - leading to someone being called the "undisputed" champion of the world - can be hard to broker.

The Klitschkos are also smart. Both have consistently talked about life after boxing, are avid chess players and have said they don't want to stay on too long and become shambling, punch-drunk fighters.

That's part of the opportunity - that and the fact there are few US heavyweights who cut the mustard these days.

Tua is a known name in the US, even if he hadn't fought for so long before last night that he has dropped off the long list of heavyweight contenders - some of which contain names more 'con' than 'tender', if you get the drift. The No 2 contender for Valuev's WBA crown is American John Ruiz - famously dispatched by a rampant Tua years ago.

Vitali Klitschko also dealt US contenders a huge blow when he clearly outclassed Chris Arreola last week, even as Tua and Cameron were preparing for their bout. Klitschko hit Arreola, who fought with a pronounced belly roll, with some powerful shots and had a clear ringcraft ascendancy. Arreola was regarded by many as a significant hope but was sadly outclassed and, if he and Eddie Chambers are the best the US have to offer, then heavyweight hopes could well drift elsewhere.

That's where Tua has a chance. He is known in the US and still has remnants of excitement about him; an appeal to boxing broadcasters.

Pitching him against either of the Klitschkos would likely be futile as he has traditionally had trouble with bigger, taller men with height and reach advantages and who can box. Wladimir is 1.98m and strong, Vitali 2.03m and even more so.

Tua had enormous problems with former undisputed champ Lennox Lewis. Vitali Klitschko had Lewis in trouble in their classic 2003 bout before Lewis cut Klitschko's eye, eventually winning on a TKO.

But it's in the path to; the build-up to; a title fight that Tua might have real traction. If there is not going to be a Klitschko vs Klitschko contest, then the door is open for what is an ordinary supporting cast to sort each other out to fight one or other of the Ukrainians.

It's also possible that one or both of the brothers will do what they have often talked about - retire.

Either way, a Tua on the ascendancy must be of interest to promoters. He may need one or two more carefully chosen opponents and then neither his age nor his long lay-off will be relevant.

His promoter, Cedric Kushner, made the wholly valid statement last week that, even if Cameron beat Tua, he would not earn a title shot, but he would earn credibility. That's true for Tua too. Beating Cameron will not earn him a big night out, even if Cameron figures on the WBO and IBF rankings.

But it will bring him into considerations, even if some managers will be worried about exposing their fighters to Tua's power - and left hook in particular. That is possibly his next big task - finding someone prepared to meet him - and it may be that there isn't much in the contenders' list that would greatly worry Tua.

There is a collection of Russians and boxers from former USSR republics who have been around a while without convincingly staking a claim to being world-class, with the possible exception of the tough former Olympic gold medallist Alexander Povetkin, now 30.

Valuev would be a handful for Tua because of his sheer size but he is so far off the radar in other organisations that he probably wouldn't figure.

Ruslan Chagaev, Oleg Maskaev and Sergei Liahkovich all figure in rankings as do Chambers and the UK's promising David Haye, who takes on Valuev for his WBA next month. Arreola will slip but still be in the rankings. That's about it.

Tua would not be out of place among that lot. There are a couple of wonder kids on the way up in the US - the wonderfully named Tyson Fury, 21, and 23-year-old Deontay Wilder. Both are taking only the first steps in their careers although Wilder, in particular, may turn heads in the future.

But, for now... this is boxing. The shadow boxing and the kite-flying will begin as will the hyping of the hype around Tua's next opponent.