Wladimir Klitschko

Wladimir Vladimirovich Klitschko was born on March 25, 1976, in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. He is a Ukrainian heavyweight boxer.

Klitschko currently holds the IBF and WBO world heavyweight titles and is ranked number one by the IBO in the top 100 computerized rankings. 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 romanized as Volodymyr. The Russian spelling is romanized as Vladimir.

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

Boxing Career

Amateur Career

In 1993, Klitschko won the Junior European Championships as a heavyweight. In 1994, he received 2nd place at the 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 the 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. He is now announced as "Dr. Steel Hammer," a name more in the vein of his brother, Vitali, who goes by "Dr. Ironfist."


Professional Career

Klitschko turned professional with Universum Box-Promotion in Hamburg, Germany under the tutelage of Fritz Sdunek. On October 14, 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 a 2nd round TKO loss to South African Corrie Sanders on March 8, 2003, in Hannover, Germany.

After winning two minor bouts in Germany and enlisting the services of legendary boxing trainer Emmanuel Steward, Wladimir again fought for the vacated WBO title on April 10, 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.

On April 22, 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 - Byrd beat the count, but his face was battered and bloody, and the fight was waved off. Klitschko then defeated mandatory challenger Ray Austin on March 10, 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 July 7, 2007, in Cologne, Germany. 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 February 23, 2008 to unify the IBF and WBO heavyweight titles. The Klitschko-Ibragimov fight was the first heavyweight unification since Holyfield-Lewis in 1999.

On July 12, 2008, at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany, Klitschko defeated Tony Thompson by eleventh round knockout.

Klitschko was scheduled to defend his titles against Alexander Povetkin later in 2008, but on October 25, Povetkin withdrew from the fight due to an ankle injury. Instead, Wladimir faced Hasim Rahman on December 13, 2008 and won by TKO. This was the third time Klitschko fought at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. He dominated the fight, winning every round while 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.

Klitschko is currently scheduled to fight David Haye on June 20, 2009. The brothers have been quoted saying that it is only a matter of time until they unify the WBA title belt which is currently held by Nikolai Valuev. If they achieve this feat, the Klitschko brothers will become the first brothers in heavyweight boxing history to simultaneously hold all of the belts.

Klitschko appeared with Lennox Lewis in the motion picture Ocean's Eleven. He is an avid chess player, wind-surfer, golfer, and humanitarian. Both Klitschko brothers have been involved in charitable activities dedicated to supporting the needs of children around the world. Both brothers have formed their own charities that contribute to children in need in Africa and South America. They won humanitarian awards for their "Fight For Peace" and "Sport for Good" projects in 2002 and 2007. 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.

Wladimir is also a passionate golfer and was 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.

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