"in his cruiserweight jigsaw. Haye then defeated heavyweight Monte Barrett at The O2 Arena in London on 15 November 2008, winning via TKO in the fifth round. WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko confirmed he would defend his title in a fight with Haye to take place on 20 June 2009, at Stamford Bridge in London. Instead, his younger brother, WBO, IBO and IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko agreed to fight Haye the same date in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Haye pulled out of the fight with a back injury. Haye then confirmed that he would meet the WBA champion Nikolay Valuev (50-1, 34"
"Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Wladimirowitsch Klitschko (born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held the world heavyweight championship twice, including the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, ""Ring"" magazine and lineal titles. A strategic and intelligent boxer, Klitschko is considered to be one of the best heavyweight champions of all time. He was known for his exceptional knockout power, using a strong jab, straight right hand and left hook, as well as excellent footwork and mobility, unusual for boxers of his size. As an amateur, Klitschko represented Ukraine at the 1996 Olympics,"
"Schmeling. On 29 March 2012, during a charitable auction in Kiev, Ukraine, Klitschko auctioned off his 1996 Olympic gold medal to a buyer who bid $1 million. Klitschko said he would use the money to help the dreams of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children. After the sale, the buyer immediately returned the medal out of respect for Klitschko and because he wanted it to remain with the Klitschko family. Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Wladimirowitsch Klitschko (born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held the world heavyweight championship twice, including the"
"Vitali Klitschko Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; , ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He currently serves as Mayor of Kiev and head of the Kiev City State Administration, having held both offices since June 2014. Klitschko is a former leader of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and a former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament. He became actively involved in Ukrainian politics in 2005 and combined this with his professional boxing career until his retirement from the sport in 2013. As a boxer, Klitschko is a three-time world heavyweight champion, the second longest reigning WBC"
"all the belts by unanimous decision to Tyson Fury. As of December 2015, they have a combined professional boxing record of 109 wins (94 KO's) and 6 defeats, including 45 world title fights. Both Klitschko brothers are considered the best heavyweight boxers of their era. Having remained undefeated for a large majority of their careers and refusing to fight each other, both brothers remained largely unchallenged throughout their careers. Notably, both brothers were particularly well known for using their large size to nullify other heavyweights, particularly Wladimir, who became notorious for his use of the jab. Having never been knocked"
"in 2010 with the record of 41–5–1. Klitschko held the IBF title for a record-breaking 3,507 days before his defeat at the hands of Tyson Fury in November 2015. This fight would mark the fourth time trainer Emanuel Steward guided a fighter to a Heavyweight title, after Evander Holyfield, Oliver McCall and Lennox Lewis. Confirmed bouts: Chris Byrd vs. Wladimir Klitschko II Chris Byrd vs. Wladimir Klitschko II, billed as ""Revenge Is The Name Of The Game"", was a professional boxing match contested on 22 April 2006 for the IBF and vacant IBO heavyweight championship. After beating Evander Holyfield in"
"heavyweight champion of all time, has the fifth longest combined world championship reign in history at 2,735 days, the third longest individual WBC heavyweight title streak of all time at 9 consecutive defenses and the 4th longest combined title streak in the modern heavyweight history at 15 title bouts. He held the WBO title from 1999 to 2000; the ""Ring"" magazine title from 2004 to 2005; and the WBC title twice, from 2004 to 2005 and from 2008 to 2013. Standing at 2.01 metres (6 feet 7 inches), Klitschko was renowned for having exceptional ring dominance. With an 87% knockout"
"done with Lennox Lewis in 1995 to 2003. In 2006, Klitschko regained a portion of the world heavyweight championship after defeating Chris Byrd in a rematch to win the IBF and IBO titles. He won the WBO title for a second time by defeating Sultan Ibragimov in 2008. Following his defeat of Ruslan Chagaev in 2009, Klitschko was awarded the ""Ring"" and lineal titles, and lastly he won the WBA title from David Haye in 2011. In September 2015, Klitschko was ranked as the world's best active boxer, pound for pound, by BoxRec; in November 2014, he reached a career"
"Wladimir Klitschko. On 2 July 2012, it was announced that Vitali Klitschko will defend his WBC Heavyweight title on 8 September at the Olympic Indoor Arena in Moscow, Russia. His opponent for the fight was the then undefeated future WBA heavyweight champion Manuel Charr 21–0 (11 KO). Klitschko won the fight via technical knockout when Charr had to be stopped due to a cut received from Vitali's punches. Klitschko was expected to face Bermane Stiverne in a mandatory title defense, but was forced to pull out due to injury. On 15 December 2013, Vitali Klitschko stepped back from boxing. He"
"for the heavyweight world title in 106 years. Politics Despite the fact that Klitschko possessed an overwhelming advantage over his challenger, the Ukrainian was quoted as saying the bout was “the most important fight of my career” due to the political backdrop of the encounter from a Ukrainian point of view. Early in 2014 Russia took the Crimea from the Ukraine and consequently, both nations were mobilising for the possibility of war in the short term. Vladmir’s brother Vitali Klitschko was preparing to run for the Ukrainian presidency in looming May elections and the 37-year-old title holder admitted boxing was"
"from the Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky Pedagogical Institute (Ukraine) and was accepted into the postgraduate study program at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. On 29 February 2000, he presented his doctoral thesis on ""talent and sponsorship in sports"" at the ""Kyiv University of Physical Science and Sports"" and his PhD in Sports Science was conferred. Klitschko has lived for years in Germany (in addition to residing in Kiev). According to Klitschko ""Germany adopted me, I really love Germany, but I'm not German"". Both Vitali and his brother are avid chess players. Vitali is a friend of former world chess champion Vladimir"
"world title, and retired undefeated while having a solid number of successful title defenses. Jiselle Salandy was awarded the Eternal title as she defended the WBC female super welterweight title five times before her death on January 4, 2009. On December 12, 2016, Vitali Klitschko was recognized as ""Eternal Champion"", as he had ten successful WBC heavyweight title defenses during his career before his retirement in 2013 and has never been knocked down throughout his career. In early 1998, Roy Jones, Jr. announced that he was relinquishing his WBC light heavyweight title. In response, the WBC ordered a bout between"
"peak of second best on ""The Ring""s pound for pound list. BoxRec currently ranks him as the 20th best boxer of all time and the greatest European boxer of all time, pound for pound. Until his loss to Tyson Fury in 2015, Klitschko was also recognized as lineal champion by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, while the WBA recognised him as one of its ""Super champions"", a distinction given to boxers who hold that title in addition to those by other sanctioning bodies in the same division. From 2006 to 2015, Wladimir and his older brother Vitali (himself a former"
"winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division. After turning professional later that year, he defeated Chris Byrd in 2000 to win the WBO heavyweight title. Klitschko's first reign as champion ended in an upset knockout loss to Corrie Sanders in 2003, which was followed by another knockout loss to Lamon Brewster in 2004. It was during this time that Klitschko hired Emanuel Steward as his trainer, which began an eight-year partnership that lasted until Steward's death in 2012. In particular, Steward was credited with Klitschko's transition from an aggressive puncher to a more defensively-oriented boxer, much as he had"
"down, Vitali Klitschko is widely regarded as the tougher fighter of the two. In fact, Vitali is the only heavyweight world champion to have never been knocked down in any fight, and alongside George Foreman he is the only heavyweight boxer in history to defend a world title after turning 40. Furthermore, his 87% knockout percentage is one of the best knockout-to-fight ratios of any champion in heavyweight boxing history. Vitali was also known for being unusually dominant in his fights, having almost never lost a round in his professional career as a boxer. During his time as WBC champion,"
"inducted into the armed forces. He was stripped of WBC and WBA titles but remained The Ring and lineal boxing champion, despite not having a boxing match until October 1970. In 2005, Ukrainian boxer Vitali Klitschko retired as WBC Champion. 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. On August 3, 2008 the WBC awarded Klitschko a chance to regain his WBC Heavyweight title against then-champion Samuel Peter. Vitali regained the title after Peter asked the bout be stopped after the"
"Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury, billed as ""Kollisionskurs"" (German for ""Collision Course""), was a professional boxing match contested for the WBA (Super), WBO, IBF, IBO, ""The Ring"" magazine, and lineal heavyweight titles. The fight took place on November 28, 2015 at Esprit Arena, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Fury was declared the winner by unanimous decision. This ended Klitschko's reign of nearly 10 years, the second longest in heavyweight history. Klitschko was entitled to a rematch per the fight contract. Despite this, Fury was stripped of the IBF heavyweight title for agreeing to the rematch instead of"
"tuned in to watch Klitschko vs. Fury in 2015. It did lower numbers than Klitschko's win over Mariusz Wach in 2012, which was watched by 11 million and Klitschko vs. Haye, which was seen by over 16 million. In Ukraine, the match averaged 4.4 million viewers, becoming the most watched sporting event of 2017 in the country. Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko was a professional boxing match contested between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko. The event took place on 29 April 2017 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, with Joshua's IBF and the vacant WBA"
"Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko was a professional boxing match contested between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko. The event took place on 29 April 2017 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, with Joshua's IBF and the vacant WBA (Super) and IBO heavyweight titles on the line. Joshua won the match via technical knockout in the 11th round. Klitschko announced his retirement from boxing a few months after the fight. It was announced in August 2016 that Joshua would be making a second defence of his IBF title at the Manchester Arena on 26 November. This"
"was also one of the commanders in charge of cleaning up the effects of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in 1986 and was afterward diagnosed with cancer. His mother is Nadezhda Ulyanovna. Klitschko has been accused of working as a debt collector in the 1990s for mafia boss Viktor Rybalko. Klitschko has vehemently denied links to Rybalko. Vitali Klitschko is married to Natalia Egorova, a former athlete and model. They met in Kiev and got married on 26 April 1996. He has three children, Yegor-Daniel, Elizabeth-Victoria and Max (named after the former World Heavyweight Champion Max Schmeling). In 1996, Klitschko graduated"
"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, IBO and WBO Heavyweight titles. The Klitschko-Ibragimov fight was the first heavyweight unification since Holyfield-Lewis in 1999. The unification clash with Ibragimov proved to be a huge disappointment for fans. Klitschko was very dominant from the first bell. He backed Ibragimov into a corner and proceeded to"
"from the boxing community, commonly being described as ""boring"" or ""robotic"". While initially an exciting fighter, a series of losses led him to hire legendary boxing trainer Emmanuel Steward to cultivate his defensive abilities. At 6′ 6″, and one of the largest heavyweights in the division, Wladimir typically relies on an excellent jab to keep opponents at arms reach, and then clinching opponents once they get too close. This was meant to fatigue opponents before he would knock them out in the later rounds or win on scorecards. Klitschko brothers Vitali Klitschko (born 19 July 1971) and Wladimir Klitschko (born"
"bouts: Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov, billed as ""The Unification"", was a professional boxing match contested on 23 February 2008 for the IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight championship. After avenging an earlier defeat when he beat Lamon Brewster after 6 rounds in July 2007, Wladimir Klitschko had made three successful defences the IBF belt he had won from Chris Byrd in 2006, and was rated as the best Heavyweight in the world by Ring magazine (Sultan Ibragimov was 6th behind WBC Champion Oleg Maskaev and WBA Champion Ruslan Chagaev).. Sultan Ibragimov won the WBO belt"
"Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye, billed as ""The Talk Ends Now"", was a heavyweight unification fight for the WBA (Super), WBO, IBF, IBO and The Ring heavyweight titles. The fight took place in Imtech Arena, Altona, Hamburg, Germany on July 2, 2011. Klitschko won with a unanimous points victory. The fight reportedly reached a global television audience of 500 million viewers in 150 countries. In 2008 after becoming the unified Cruiserweight champion of the world, David Haye moved up to heavyweight. Klitschko welcomed the challenge of Haye. Talks started immediately between Wladimir and Haye but"
"history. He also holds the record of having defeated the most boxers with an undefeated record, at 12, and also defeated 12 current or former world champions throughout his career. Klitschko is also a passionate golfer and was seen playing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. The tournament was played over three courses in 2008 including St Andrews, Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns in Fife and Angus. Klitschko was named curator of the Ukrainian pavilion at the 2009 Venice Biennale. As of October 2015, Klitschko was an adjunct professor at Switzerland's University of St. Gallen, where he taught master's students."
"Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov, billed as ""The Unification"", was a professional boxing match contested on 23 February 2008 for the IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight championship. After avenging an earlier defeat when he beat Lamon Brewster after 6 rounds in July 2007, Wladimir Klitschko had made three successful defences the IBF belt he had won from Chris Byrd in 2006, and was rated as the best Heavyweight in the world by Ring magazine (Sultan Ibragimov was 6th behind WBC Champion Oleg Maskaev and WBA Champion Ruslan Chagaev).. Sultan Ibragimov won the WBO belt by"
"be stopped. With the Samuel Peter victory, Klitschko technically became one of the few men to ever hold a version of the World Heavyweight Championship three times – WBO (1999–2000), WBC (2004–2005) and WBC (2008–2012). On 21 March 2009, Klitschko defeated Juan Carlos Gómez by TKO in the ninth round. Gómez tried to use his movement to thwart Vitali, but seemed unable to cope with the power and physical strength of his opponent. As the rounds progressed, Klitschko began imposing himself on Gómez more and more. Gómez soon became wary of Klitschko's power and also began to tire physically. By"
"His best victory since then had come over the then unbeaten Alexander Povetkin in 2013. Klitschko had been champion since he won the IBF and IBO belts for beating Chris Byrd in 2006. After defeating Bryant Jennings in April 2015, Klitschko acknowledged his next opponent should be Fury, saying that, """"I believe that the fight with Tyson Fury will look different to this one because of the size difference – Fury is taller than me. He is definitely the guy who is ambitious and I think it is going to be exciting. I think that he is going to engage"
"Vitali Klitschko was described as being the best of his time, and George Foreman stated that he has the best straight left in the division. As heavyweight champion, Wladimir was unbeaten for over a decade. Wladimir Klitschko is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, and amongst the hardest punching knockout artists in history. He has been heavily praised for his fundamental approach to boxing, during which he nullifies opponents with his jab, before knocking opponents out with a straight right. His reign as champion is second only to the reign of Joe Louis. While"
"Wladimir Klitschko vs. Ruslan Chagaev Wladimir Klitschko vs. Ruslan Chagaev, billed as ""Knockout Auf Schalke"", was a professional boxing match contested on for the IBF, WBO, IBO, ""The Ring"" and lineal heavyweight championship. After he had successfully unified the IBF and WBO belt with his outsided decision victory over Sultan Ibragimov in February 2008, Wladimir Klitschko had defended his titles with knockouts of Tony Thompson and former unified champion Hasim Rahman. He had agreed to face former unified cruiserweight champion David Haye in Germany on 20 June 2009, but Haye withdrew because of a back injury. Chagaev had won the"
"2011, it was announced that Haye and Wladimir Klitschko had agreed to meet at the Imtech Arena in Hamburg on 2 July 2011. Wladimir Klitschko versus David Haye was a heavyweight unification fight for the WBA, IBF, WBO and ""The Ring"" heavyweight titles, the fight taking place at the Imtech Arena, Hamburg, Germany on 2 July 2011 This was the only heavyweight unification fight since Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov fought back in 2008, when Wladimir Klitschko beat Ibragimov and added his WBO title to his IBF title. The fight reached a global television audience of 500 million viewers in"
"officially announced his retirement from boxing. Byrd hosts a weekly video podcast, entitled ""Byrd's Eye View"", which showcases former boxers as well as current professional and champion-level fighters. Chris Byrd Christopher Cornelius ""Chris"" Byrd (born August 15, 1970) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2009. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having first won the WBO title in 2000 after an upset corner stoppage over then-undefeated Vitali Klitschko. In his first title defense later that year, he lost to Vitali's brother Wladimir Klitschko. In 2002, Byrd defeated Evander Holyfield to win the IBF heavyweight"
"Klitschko and Joshua would face each other for the IBF and WBA (Super) titles at Wembley Stadium, London, on 29 April 2017. WBA president Gilberto J. Mendoza confirmed that the winner would have to face mandatory challenger Luis Ortiz next, with deadlines due to be set after the unification fight. It was then confirmed that the winner between Joshua and Klitschko had to face Kubrat Pulev next as the IBF's mandatory challenger. In January 2017, Eddie Hearn announced that more than 80,000 tickets had been sold, a new box office record, overtaking Carl Froch vs. George Groves II. He put"