Wladimir Klitschko

Wladimir Klitschko
Born	Wladimir Klitschko (1976-03-25) March 25, 1976 Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Ukrainian
Other names	Dr. Steel Hammer
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	54
Wins	51
Wins by KO	45
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 ([Володимир Володимирович Кличко, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help); born March 25 1976) is a Ukrainian heavyweight boxer. Klitschko currently holds the IBF, WBO, and IBO world heavyweight titles. His elder brother, Vitali Klitschko, is a former WBC and 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.

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 the Kyiv University. On January 18, 2001 in a conference hall of Kyiv University of physical science and sports, Vladimir presented his doctorate dissertation and was awarded a Ph.D. in Sports Science.

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 caputured 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 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 an upset 2nd round TKO loss to South African Corrie Sanders on March 8, 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 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. 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. 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. Klitchko stands at 6' 6 1/2" came in at 238 pounds, the lightest he had ever been since 1999.

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

On December 13, 2008 Wladimir Klitschko will defend his titles against Alexander Povetkin.

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.

Nick Dougherty was the champion in 2007.

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)

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