Vitali Klitschko

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Vitali Klitschko
Statistics
Real name	Vitaliy Volodymyrovych Klychko
Nickname(s)	Dr. Iron Fist
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Nationality	Ukrainian
Birth date	19 July 1971 (1971-07-19) (age 38)
Birth place	Belovodsk, Kyrgyz SSR, Soviet Union
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	39
Wins	37
Wins by KO	36
Losses	2
Draws	0
No contests	0

Medal record
Competitor for  Ukraine
Men’s Boxing
World Amateur Championships
Silver	1995 Berlin	Super heavyweight

Vitali Klitschko (Ukrainian: Віталій Кличко, Vitaliy Klychko; born 19 July 1971 in Belovodsk, Kirghiz SSR, Soviet Union) is a Ukrainian professional heavyweight boxer and the current WBC heavyweight champion. He has the highest knockout percentage (92%) of any heavyweight champion in overall fights. His younger brother, Wladimir Klitschko, is the current IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine world heavyweight champion. Vitali is the first professional boxing world champion to hold a PhD (in sports medicine and philosophy).

Contents 1 Boxing career 2 Outside the ring 3 Personal 4 Professional boxing record 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Boxing career

Originally a professional kickboxer, Vitali won the super heavyweight championship at the first World Military Games in Italy in 1995. In that same year, he won the silver medal at the 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Berlin Germany, where he was defeated by Russia's Alexei Lezin in the final. His amateur record was 195-15 with 80 knockouts.

He began his professional boxing career in 1996, winning his first twenty-four fights by either early knockout or technical knockout (TKO). He and Wladimir signed with the German athlete-promotion company Universum. With both brothers holding Ph.D.s and being multilingual, their refined and articulate personalities made for mainstream marketability when they moved to Germany and Universum. In time, they became national celebrities in their adopted home country. In his 25th pro fight, on 26 June 1999, Klitschko won the WBO heavyweight title from Herbie Hide of the United Kingdom by a 2nd round knockout.

He successfully defended the title twice before an April 1, 2000 match against American Chris Byrd. Complaining of shoulder pain, Vitali and his corner threw in the towel after the ninth round despite carrying a lead on all three judges' scorecards (89-82, and 88-83 twice). Klitschko, who was later diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff, received much criticism for quitting the fight.

Klitschko rebounded from his loss to Byrd by reeling off five victories in a row, earning himself a shot at WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis on June 21, 2003 in Los Angeles, California. Klitschko, a 4-1 underdog, dominated the early going and stunned Lewis in the second round with two hard rights.^[1] In the third, Lewis landed a big right hand of his own that opened a deep cut above Klitschko's left eye.^[1] Klitschko was able to rally and regain control of the fight, but the cut continued to worsen. Before the seventh round, the ringside doctor inspected the wound and deemed it severe enough to threaten eye damage if struck again, stopping the fight despite Klitschko's pleas to continue. Klitschko was ahead on all three scorecards 58-56 (4 rounds to 2) at the time of the stoppage, but because the wound was a result of punches from Lewis and not a headbutt, Lewis won by technical knockout.^[1] Lewis was booed lustily when he was announced the winner.^[1] Klitschko, despite the loss, gained international respect for fighting so well against the heavyweight champion for 6 rounds. Negotiations for a December 6 rematch began^[2], but Lewis retired before the match could take place.

Around this time, the Klitschko brothers moved from Hamburg, Germany to Los Angeles, California.

In January 2004, they notified Universum that they would not re-sign when their contracts expired in April. Universum sued the brothers, arguing that their recent injuries had triggered a clause binding them beyond April. The suit was resolved in late 2004.^[3]

Klitschko earned an 8th-round TKO victory over South African Corrie Sanders on 24 April 2004, to capture the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship which had been vacated by Lewis. Sanders had knocked out (2nd Round TKO) younger brother Wladimir on 8 March 2003. This fight was also for The Ring Magazine belt. Klitschko was rocked early by Sanders, but by using movement and strong punching he broke down Sanders and forced the referee to stop the bout.

Vitali Klitschko's first world title defense was against British boxer Danny Williams. Williams had become suddenly marketable from a KO over Mike Tyson in round 4. Klitschko scored a technical knockout against Williams in 8 rounds on 11 December 2004, while wearing an orange cloth to show support for the Ukrainian presidential opposition movement. Klitschko knocked Williams down in the 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 8th rounds before the fight was stopped. Immediately afterward, Klitschko dedicated his victory to democracy in his native Ukraine, and also to the Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, whom he supported in the 26 December 2004, election revote.^[4]

On 9 November 2005, Vitali Klitschko announced his retirement from professional boxing and vacated his title. He cited regrets about his suddenly-mounting injuries, a desire to leave the sport while still on top, and political aspirations in his home country of Ukraine.^[5] Following his retirement, the WBC conferred "champion emeritus" status on Klitschko, and assured him he would become the mandatory challenger if and when he decided to return.^[6] Klitschko retired with a career knockout ratio of 92 percent (34 knockouts in 37 bouts). He has never been knocked down or received a standing count.

He still occasionally calls out Lennox Lewis, who has been retired since early 2004, for a rematch.^[7] In the German Bild-Zeitung, he announced on 24 January 2007 his comeback and requested to fight again.^[8] But because of a number of health problems, Klitschko backed out from a number of bouts scheduled for him.

On 3 August 2008, the WBC awarded Klitschko a chance to regain his WBC heavyweight title. A fight was arranged with Samuel Peter and on 11 October 2008, he regained his title when Peter retired on his stool in the eighth round.

On 21 March 2009, Klitschko successfully defended the WBC heavyweight title against Juan Carlos Gomez which he won by TKO in the ninth round.

[edit] Outside the ring

Klitschko began campaigning for mayor of Kiev shortly after his retirement. He lost the 2006 mayoral election to Leonid Chernovetsky but placed second with 26% of the vote, ahead of the incumbent Oleksandr Omelchenko. Klitschko campaigned on an anti-corruption platform associated with Pora party. Analysts stated his relatively late entry into the campaign might have cost him votes. Still, he was elected as a people's deputy to the Kiev City Council.^[9] In the May 2008 Kiev local election he ran again and won 18% of the vote. His party, Vitaliy Klychko Bloc, won 10.61% of the votes and 15 seats and again he was elected into the Kiev City Council.^[10] His campaign hired Rudy Giuliani to consult the campaign.^[11] In 2008 he was also appointed to the Ukrainian delegation of the Congress of the Council of Europe.

Both Vitali and his brother are avid chess players. Vitali is a friend of former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik and the two have played, with Kramnik always winning. Vitali has commented that "chess is similar to boxing. You need to develop a strategy, and you need to think two or three steps ahead about what your opponent is doing. You have to be smart. But what's the difference between chess and boxing? In chess, nobody is an expert, but everybody plays. In boxing everybody is an expert, but nobody fights."^[12]

Vitali and his brother also have been involved in charitable activities dedicated to support the needs of schools, churches and children. In 2002, the Klitschko brothers announced that they had agreed to work specifically for the UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) which supports more than 180 projects in 87 countries.

[edit] Personal

Their father, Vladimir Rodionovich, was a Soviet Air Force Colonel. Their mother is Nadezhda Ulyanovna.

He is married to Natalia Egorova, a former athlete and model. They met in Kiev and got married in April 1996. He has three children, Egor-Daniel, Elizabeth-Victoria and Max (named after the former World Heavyweight Champion Max Schmeling).

In 1996, he graduated from the Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky Pedagogical Institute (Ukraine) and was accepted into the postgraduate study program at Kiev University. On 29 February 2000, he presented his doctoral thesis on "talent and sponsorship in sports"^[13] at the Kiev University of Physical Science and Sports, and his Ph.D in Philosophy in Sports Science was conferred.

[edit] Professional boxing record

37 Wins (36 knockouts), 2 Losses (2 knockouts), 0 Draws[14]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
		David Haye,		(12)	2009-09-12	Frankfurt, Germany, Commerzbank Arena	WBC heavyweight title.
Win	37-2	Juan Carlos Gomez,	TKO	9 (12) 1.48	2009-03-21	Stuttgart, Germany	WBC heavyweight title. Gomez received a cut to the right eye in the fifth round. Klitschko rocked Gomez with a series of power punches in the seventh round causing Gomez to go down. Another barrage of power punches in the ninth round stunned Gomez and caused the referee to stop the fight.
Win	36-2	Samuel Peter,	RTD	9 (12), 3:00	2008-10-11	Berlin, Germany	WBC heavyweight title. Peter quit on his stool after the 8th round.
Win	35-2	Danny Williams,	TKO	8 (12), 1:26	2004-12-11	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	WBC heavyweight title.
Win	34-2	Corrie Sanders,	TKO	8 (12), 2:46	2004-04-24	Los Angeles, CA, United States	Vacant WBC heavyweight title. Sanders took a serious pounding in the 8th round but refused to go down so the referee stopped the fight to save Sanders from taking any more punishment. Klitschko won the vacant Ring Magazine heavyweight championship of the world.
Win	33-2	Kirk Johnson,	TKO	2 (12), 2:54	2003-12-06	New York, United States	WBC Heavyweight Title Eliminator. Klitschko was able to control the range of the fight, and landed often with right hands. Johnson tried to work behind his jab and set up some winging power shots, but was unable to connect on his taller opponent. In round 2, Johnson was wobbled by right hand behind the ear, and was down to his knees after a barrage of punches from Klitschko. Johnson would rise at the count of two, but was on the canvas seconds later after another barrage of punches from Klitschko. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. did not pick up a count and stopped the fight as Johnson attempted to make his way up.
Loss	32-2	Lennox Lewis,	TKO	6 (12), 3:00	2003-06-21	Los Angeles, CA, United States	WBC, IBO heavyweight title. Lewis was stunned by a barrage of power punches in the second round. The fight was stopped after the 6th round, on the advice of ringside doctor, Dr. Paul Wallace, due to a large cut over Klitschko's left eye. Klitschko was leading 58-56 on all three judges scorecards, when the fight was stopped.
Win	32-1	Larry Donald,	TKO	10 (12), 2:35	2002-11-23	Dortmund, Germany	WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title. WBA Heavyweight Title Eliminator.
Win	31-1	Vaughn Bean,	TKO	11 (12), 1:40	2002-02-08	Braunschweig, Germany	WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
Win	30-1	Ross Puritty,	TKO	11 (12), 1:16	2001-12-08	Oberhausen, Germany	WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title. Fight stopped due to bad cut.
Win	29-1	Orlin Norris,	KO	1 (12), 1:09	2001-01-27	Munich, Germany	Vacant WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
Win	28-1	Timo Hoffmann,	UD	12 (12),	2000-11-25	Hannover, Germany	Vacant EBU (European) heavyweight title.
Loss	27-1	Chris Byrd,	RTD	9 (12), 3:00	2000-04-01	Berlin, Germany	WBO heavyweight title. After the ninth round Klitschko claimed an injured shoulder and the bout was stopped. He was later diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff.
Win	27-0	Obed Sullivan,	TKO	9 (12), 3:00	1999-12-11	Hamburg, Germany	WBO heavyweight title. Sullivan fails to answer the bell for Round 10. Ruled as a TKO after the 9th round.
Win	26-0	Ed Mahone,	TKO	3 (12), 1:45	1999-10-09	Oberhausen, Germany	WBO heavyweight title.
Win	25-0	Herbie Hide,	KO	2 (12), 1:14	1999-06-26	London, United Kingdom	WBO heavyweight title. Hide down twice in 2nd round.
Win	24-0	Ismael Youla,	TKO	2 (12), 1:30	1999-02-20	Hamburg, Germany	EBU (European) heavyweight title.
Win	23-0	Francesco Spinelli,	TKO	1 (12), 1:49	1998-12-05	Kiev, Ukraine	EBU (European) heavyweight title.
Win	22-0	Mario Schiesser,	TKO	2 (12), 2:00	1998-10-24	Hamburg, Germany	Vacant EBU (European) heavyweight title.
Win	21-0	Ricardo Kennedy,	TKO	1 (8), 1:31	1998-08-11	Miami, FL, United States
Win	20-0	Jose Ribalta,	TKO	2 (12),	1998-06-05	Hamburg, Germany
Win	19-0	Dicky Ryan,	TKO	5 (12),	1998-05-02	Lübeck, Germany	Vacant WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
Win	18-0	Julius Francis,	TKO	2 (12),	1998-04-18	Aachen, Germany
Win	17-0	Levi Billups,	KO	2 (10),	1998-03-20	Frankfurt, Germany
Win	16-0	Louis Monaco,	KO	3 (10),	1998-03-07	Cologne, Germany
Win	15-0	Alben Belinski,	KO	2 (8),	1998-01-30	Munich, Germany
Win	14-0	Marcus Rhode,	TKO	2 (8),	1998-01-17	Berlin, Germany
Win	13-0	Anthony Willis,	KO	5 (8),	1997-12-20	Berlin, Germany
Win	12-0	Herman Delgado,	TKO	3 (8),	1997-11-29	Karlsruhe, Germany
Win	11-0	Gilberto Williamson,	KO	6 (6),	1997-11-08	Frankfurt, Germany
Win	10-0	Will Hinton,	KO	2 (6),	1997-10-04	Hannover, Germany
Win	9-0	Jimmy Haynes,	KO	2 (6),	1997-06-14	Aachen, Germany
Win	8-0	Cleveland Woods,	KO	2 (6), 2:16	1997-05-10	Frankfurt, Germany
Win	7-0	Derrick Roddy,	TKO	2 (6), 2:14	1997-04-12	Aachen, Germany
Win	6-0	Calvin Jones,	KO	1 (6), 2:58	1997-03-08	Cologne, Germany
Win	5-0	Troy Roberts,	KO	2 (6),	1997-02-22	Hamburg, Germany
Win	4-0	Mike Acklie,	KO	1 (6), 0:32	1997-01-25	Stuttgart, Germany
Win	3-0	Brian Sargent,	TKO	2 (6), 1:08	1996-12-21	Frankfurt, Germany
Win	2-0	Frantisek Sumina,	TKO	1 (4), 1:12	1996-11-30	Wiener Neustadt, Austria
Win	1-0	Tony Bradham,	KO	2 (4), 1:14	1996-11-16	Hamburg, Germany	Bradham down once in both rounds. Pro debut for Klitschko.

[edit] See also

• List of heavyweight boxing champions

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• "The Official Site of Klitschko Brothers" (in German/English/Ukrainian/Russian). http://www.klitschko.com/. 
• Vitali Klitschko Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• Professional boxing record for Vitali Klitschko from Boxrec
• Klitschko Interview on FOX News Radio

Sporting positions
Preceded by Herbie Hide	WBO Heavyweight champion 26 June 1999 – 4 January 2000	Succeeded by Chris Byrd
Preceded by Lennox Lewis Retired	WBC Heavyweight Champion 24 April 2004 – 9 November 2005 Retired	Succeeded by Hasim Rahman Interim champ promoted
	The Ring Heavyweight Champion 24 April 2004 – 9 November 2005 Retired	Succeeded by Wladimir Klitschko
Preceded by Samuel Peter	WBC Heavyweight Champion 11 October 2008 – present	Incumbent