Wladimir Klitschko

Wladimir Klitschko
Born	Wladimir Klitschko (1976-03-25) 25 March 1976 Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Ukrainian
Other names	Dr. Steel Hammer
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	6' 6.5" (200 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	55
Wins	52
Wins by KO	46
Losses	3
Draws	0
No contests	0

Olympic medal record
Representing Ukraine
Men's boxing
	1996 Atlanta	Super heavyweight
European Amateur Championships
	1996 Vejle	Super heavyweight

Wladimir Vladimirovich Klitschko (Template:Pron-en) ([Володимир Володимирович Кличко, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help); born 25 March 1976, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan) is a Ukrainian heavyweight boxer. Klitschko currently holds the IBF, WBO, and IBO world heavyweight titles. His elder brother, Vitali Klitschko, is the current WBC and former WBO heavyweight champion. The spelling Wladimir is a German spelling his manager adopted for him early in his career. The Ukrainian spelling of his name is Володимир, romanized as Volodymyr. The Russian spelling is Владимир, which is romanized as Vladimir. Klitschko is generally recognized as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.

Biography

He was born in Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR (now Kazakhstan). Though a major celebrity in his former adopted home of Germany, in 2004 he moved with his older brother Vitali to Beverly Hills. Their father, Vladimir Rodionovich, was a Soviet Air Force Colonel. Their mother is Nadezhda Ulyanovna.

In the summer of 1996 Vladimir finished Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky Pedagogical Institute (Ukraine) and was accepted in the postgraduate study program of Kiev University. On 18 January 2001 in a conference hall of Kiev University of physical science and sports, Vladimir presented his doctorate dissertation and was awarded a Ph.D. in Sports Science. Wladimir Klitschko speaks 5 languages: English, Russian, Ukrainian, German, and Yiddish.

He Weighs in at 110kg or 242lbs

Boxing career

Amateur career

In 1993, Klitschko won the Junior European Championships as a Heavyweight. In 1994, he received 2nd place at Junior World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. In 1995, he won the gold medal at the Military Championships in Ariccia, Italy, defeating Luan Krasniqi, who he had lost to in the third round of the World Championships in Berlin, Germany earlier that year. In 1996, he captured 2nd place as a Super Heavyweight at European Championships in Vejle, Denmark.

Known as "The Steel Hammer," Klitschko first achieved world attention at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He defeated Paea Wolfgramm to win the Super-Heavyweight gold medal.

Professional career

Klitschko turned professional with Universum Box-Promotion in Hamburg, Germany under the tutelage of Fritz Sdunek. On 14 October 2000, in Cologne's Kölnarena (Germany), Klitschko won the WBO heavyweight championship from American Chris Byrd. After five successful defenses of the WBO belt, Wladimir suffered an upset 2nd round TKO loss to South African Corrie Sanders on 8 March 2003, in Hannover, Germany.

After two minor bouts in Germany, and also obtaining the services of legendary boxing trainer Emmanuel Steward, Wladimir again fought for the vacated WBO title on 10 April 2004, in Las Vegas against Lamon Brewster. Klitschko sent Brewster to the canvas in the fourth round; however, things turned around in the fifth when Brewster began landing punches. Near the end of the round, Klitschko was floored by a right hand. Barely beating the count, Klitschko fell back to the canvas looking exhausted.

Wladimir Klitschko boxing Hasim Rahman, 2008

On 22 April 2006, in Mannheim, Germany, Klitschko again defeated Chris Byrd, this time by technical knockout, in a contest for the IBF heavyweight championship. Referee Wayne Kelly stopped the fight in the seventh round after a knockdown. Klitschko then defeated mandatory challenger Ray Austin on 10 March 2007, at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany by a second-round knockout with four consecutive left hooks to Austin's head. Wladimir did not use his right hand once during the fight, doing all his work with his left jab and left hook. Wladimir then avenged one of his previous losses as he defeated Lamon Brewster on 7 July 2007, in Cologne. Brewster's corner asked the referee to stop the fight at the end of the sixth round. It was later revealed that Klitschko fought most of the fight with a broken middle finger on his left hand.

Klitschko defeated WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden in New York City on 23 February 2008 to unify the IBF and WBO heavyweight titles. The Klitschko-Ibragimov fight was the first heavyweight unification since Holyfield-Lewis in 1999.

On 12 July 2008, at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany, Klitschko defeated Tony Thompson by eleventh round knockout. Thompson seemed to hurt his leg in the tenth round.

Klitschko was scheduled to defend his titles against Alexander Povetkin, but on 25 October, Povetkin withdrew from the fight due to an injury. Instead, Wladimir faced Hasim Rahman on the 13th of December 2008 and won by TKO. This was the third time Klitschko fought in SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. He dominated the fight winning every round and making good use of his left jab. The referee finally called a stop to the contest in the 7th round after Rahman failed to respond to a series of good shots.

Other interests

Klitschko appeared with Lennox Lewis in the motion picture Ocean's Eleven. He is an avid chess player, and competes in the growing sport of Chess boxing. He started and ended the televoting with his brother Vitali at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Kyiv. The Klitschko brothers have created their own design collection of men's sports and leather clothes with Hugo Boss. They 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 UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) which supports more than 180 projects in 87 countries.

He is also a passionate golfer as seen playing in the Links Championship in Scotland. The tournament was played over three courses in 2008 including St Andrews,Carnoustie and Kingsbarns in Fife.

External links

• "The Official Site of Klitschko Brothers" (in German/English/Ukrainian/Russian).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
• Wladimir Klitschko Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• Boxing record for Wladimir Klitschko from BoxRec (registration required)