Via Ken Hissner: There was a period back in 1989 to 2011 Vitali “Dr. Ironfist “Klitschko and Wladimir” Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko was a world heavyweight champion in the WBO, WBA, WBC and IBF organizations.
Now their fight is against the Russian threat of invading their country Ukraine. Vitali is the mayor of Kyiv, and Wladimir has just joined the Ukrainian National Guard.
Vitali, the older of the two, was born in Kyrgyzstan in 1971 and is an amateur 195-15. It was not until 1995 that he won a major championship in the world military championship in Italy, defeating Alexei Lezin of Russia.
In November 1996, fighting outside Germany, Vitali made his professional debut. He won his first minor title in May 1998, defeating Dicky Ryan of America, 46-3, for the WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight belt. Three games later, Ryan will go to Denmark and stop Denmark’s “Super” Brian Nielsen’s winning streak 49-0, stopping him in the tenth and final round.
In August 1998, Vitali made his debut in the United States, stopping Ricardo “Explosive” Kennedy, 14-6-1, in Florida, in just his second fight outside of Germany. In the next game, he won the vacant EBU title to stop German champion Mario Schiesser, 36-3-1. In the next game to defend that title, he made his debut in Ukraine, stopping Italian champion Francesco Spinelli, 19-4, from forcing him to retire.
Two bouts later, in June 1999, Vitali won the WBO World title, stopping Herbie “Dancing Destroyer” Hide, 31-1, in two innings. In his third defense in June 2000, he lost the title to American Chris “Rapid Fire” Byrd 30-1 due to a shoulder injury in Germany.
What happens in Byrd’s next fight is typical of the Klitschko brothers. You defeat one, and the other will destroy you. Six months after winning the title, Byrd lost decisively and the title went to his brother Wladimir, 34-1, in Germany.
Wladimir was born in 1976 in Kazakhstan, amateur class 134-6. He lost to Lezin of Russia just before the 1996 Olympics in the European Championships and that same year he defeated him to win the Olympic Gold Medal in Atlanta, Georgia, in the semifinals.
Wladimir turned pro in November 1996 on the same card his brother Vitali turned pro. In February 1998, he won his first minor title, defeating Marcus McIntyre of America, 15-1, for the vacant WBC International heavyweight belt in Germany in his seventeenth consecutive win.
In December 1998, Wladimir, 24-0, on his debut in Ukraine, lost for the first time to America’s Ross Purrity, 24-13-1, being stopped in the eleventh round. In December 2001, Purrity was stopped by Vitali in the 11th round for the WBA Intercontinental title. The older brother defeated the opponent who had defeated his brother Wladimir four years earlier.
Returning to Vital’s career after losing the WBO belt to Byrd in his next bout, he regained the now-vacant EBU title by defeating Timo Hoffman, 22-0, stopping the former champion WBA Cruiserweight Orlin “Night Train” Norris, 51-6, stops Purrity, stops Vaughn “Shake Bake Vicious” Bean, 42-2, and stops Larry “The Legend” Donald, 32-2-1, in an elimination match WBA title.
In June 2003, Vitali, while leading after five rounds of 58-56 with all scores, was stopped by WBC World Champion Lennox “The Lion” Lewis, 40-2-1, who retired after that game. Six months later, in his next match, Vitali stopped Kirk “Bubba” Johnson, 34-1-1, in a WBC title elimination match.
In April 2004, Vitali stopped Corrie “The Sniper” Sanders, 39-2, for the vacated WBC belt in LA, California. It’s been a year since Sanders stopped Wladimir from winning the WBO belt. Vitali went on to win the next 11 matches that ended with stopping Mahmoud “Diamond Boy” Charr, 21-0, in Moscow, Russia, in September 2012. His final record was 45-2. with 41 stops. He was then inducted into IBHOF.
Back to Wladimir. Since losing to Ross Puritty, he has won 11 games in a row, beating Chris Byrd to win the WBO World title. He then won five games in a row before losing to Corrie Sanders in 2002. He would bounce back, stop his next two opponents, then be blocked by Lamon “Relentless” Brewster, 29-2. back for the vacant WBO title in Las Vegas, Nevada, in April 2004.
Wladimir will win his next three games, including defeating Samuel “Nigerian Nightmare” Peter, 24-0, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in an IBF and WBO knockout match. In the next match, he will rematch IBF World champion Byrd, 39-2-1, stopping him in seventh place in Germany. Wladimir would win his next eighteen fights, including stopping Brewster, 33-3.
Wladimir also stopped Russia’s WBO world champion, Sultan Ibragimov, 22-0-1. He will also stop WBA World Champion, non-title Ruslan “White Tyson” Chagaev, 25-0-1, who won the title, from Nikolai “Russian Giant” Valuev, 46-0 .
Wladimir would win the next eleven fights, winning twenty-two in a row before losing to reigning WBC world champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury, 24-0, by decision in Germany, in November 2015 .
In his next and final match in April 2017, he lost to WBA and IBF World Champion Anthony “AJ” Joshua, 18-0, in the decisive match in London by extra minutes. hours in eleven rounds. He ended his career 64-5 with 53 saves. He will qualify for this year’s IBHOF.
What’s next for “Klitschko’s fight?” Russia?
