Vitali Klitschko

Infobox_Boxer
name = Vitali Klitschko

---

nationality = Ukrainian
realname = Vitaliy Volodymyrovych Klychko
nickname = Dr. Iron Fist
weight = Heavyweight
height= 6 ft. 7½ in. (202 cm.)
birth_date = birth date and age|1971|07|19
birth_place = Belovodsk, Kyrgyz SSR (now Kyrgyzstan), Soviet Union
home = Ukraine
style = Orthodox
total = 38
wins = 36
KO = 35
losses = 2
draws = 0
no contests = 0

Vitali Vladimirovich Klitschko ( _uk. Віталій Володимирович Кличко, "Vitaliy Volodymyrovych Klychko") born July 19, 1971). Klitschko is a Ukrainian professional boxer and current WBC heavyweight champion. He vacated his WBC belt in 2005 due to retirement but announced his comeback in 2007. He regained the title on October 11, 2008 after defeating Samuel Peter in Berlin. He has the highest knockout percentage (92%) of any heavyweight champion in overall fightsFact|date=December 2007 and is one of few heavyweight champions never to have been knocked down professionally. His younger brother, Wladimir Klitschko, is the current IBF, WBO & IBO heavyweight champion.

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 Or|date=December 2007 signed with the German athlete-promotion company Universum. With both brothers holding Ph.D.s and being multilingual, their charismatic, 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 June 26 1999, Klitschko won the WBO heavyweight title from Herbie Hide of the United Kingdom by a 2nd round knockout.

He defended the title twice before losing it on April 1 2000 to American Chris Byrd. Complaining of shoulder pain, Vitali and his corner decided to concede after the ninth round. Vitali was ahead on all three judges' scorecards (89-82, and 88-83 twice). The way he ended this match brought criticism from some, however Vitali had torn the rotator cuff in his right shoulder and would be out of the ring for almost 8 months after recovering from surgery [ [http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:23661 Vitali Klitschko - Chris Byrd] ] .

On June 21 2003, he fought Lennox Lewis for the WBC heavyweight championship in Los Angeles, California. For the first two rounds, Klitschko was fighting very well. In the 3rd round, Lewis wounded Klitschko's left eye and the next two rounds were give and take. Before the 7th round, the ringside doctor inspected the wound and thought it severe enough to threaten eye damage if struck again. The doctor stopped the fight despite Klitschko's pleas to continue. Because Vitali's wound was a result of the punches from Lewis, and not a headbutt, the rules stated that Lewis would win by a technical knockout. Though he had lost, Klitschko gained international respect for fighting so well against the heavyweight champion for 6 rounds. An immediate rematch was arranged for December 6th of that year,Fact|date=December 2007 but Lewis instead retired because he did not want to embarrass the technically and athletically inferior Klitschko as it would not have been a good end to his great career.

Around this time, the Klitschko brothers moved from Hamburg, Germany to Los Angeles, California. The western U.S.'s premium training facilities were now nearby, and they could boost their profiles by mixing socially with boxing insiders.

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.Fact|date=December 2007

Klitschko earned an 8th-round TKO victory over South African Corrie Sanders on April 24 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 March 8, 2003. This fight was also for The Ring Magazine belt. Klitschko was rocked early by the powerful Sanders, but by using movement and strong punching he broke down Sanders and forced the referee to stop the bout. The former Soviet became the first professional boxing world champion with a PhD (in sports medicine and philosophy).

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 December 11, 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 afterwards, Klitschko dedicated his victory to democracy in his native Ukraine, and also to the Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, whom he supported in the December 26, 2004, election revote.Fact|date=December 2007

On November 9, 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 [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2220413] . 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.Fact|date=December 2007 Blessed with a rare combination of heavy hands and an iron chin, Klitschko retired with a career knockout ratio of 92 percent (34 knockouts in 37 bouts). He has never been knocked down, has never received a standing count, and has never trailed on points at the end of a bout.

He still occasionally calls out Lennox Lewis, who has been retired since early 2004, for a rematch. Fact|date=December 2007 In the German Bild-Zeitung, he announced on January 24 2007 his comeback and requested to fight again. [ [http://www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/sport/2007/01/24/klitschko-vitali-comeback/boxen-comeback.html Sensations-Comeback: Vitali Klitschko will wieder boxen! - Bild.de ] ] But because of a number of health problems, Klitschko has backed out from a number of bouts scheduled for him.

The WBC awarded Vitali a chance to regain his WBC belt and on October 11, 2008 in Germany he did so by beating Samuel Peter, when Peter retired on his stool at the end of the eighth round, while being behind 80-72 twice and 79-73 on the judges scorecards. The scoring was announced prior to the end of the night as part of the WBCs temporary open scoring system.

List of Pro Fights

Outside the ring

Klitschko began campaigning for mayor of Kyiv shortly after his retirement. Klitschko lost the 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 Kiev City Council.

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." [ [http://www.hbo.com/boxing/fighters/klitschko_vitali/bio.html HBO: Boxing: Fighters: Bio: VITALI KLITSCHKO ] ]

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.

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 Kyiv, Ukraine and got married in April 1996. He has three children, Egor-Daniel, Elizabeth-Victoria and Max.

In 1996, he graduated from the Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky Pedagogical Institute (Ukraine) and was accepted into the postgraduate study program at Kyiv University. On February 29, 2000, he presented his doctorate thesis at the Kyiv University of Physical Science and Sports, and his Ph.D in Philosophy in Sports Science was conferred.

Trivia

* According to Till Lindemann, the song Sonne was originally written as an entrance song for Klitschko, which was also the working title of the song. [http://herzeleid.com/en/press/2000-09_hammer] .
*The Klitschko brothers have created their own design collection of men's sports and leather clothes with Hugo Boss.

External links

*cite web|url=http://www.klitschko.com/|title=The Official Site of Klitschko Brothers|language=German/English/Ukrainian/Russian
*
* [http://afewmomentswith.com Klitschko Interview on FOX News Radio]

ee also

* List of heavyweight boxing champions

References

* [http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/24142/ Kyiv gets first new mayor in decade] Kyiv Post. 29 March 2006.