WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO'S BIO

In real life, Wladimir Klitschko’s dream came true. He fought Lennox Lewis. The boxers teamed to film a fight scene for the remake of the movie, “Ocean's Eleven." Now, Klitschko wants to fight Lewis for real. “I want to show that I am the best,” he said. “Just to say it is not enough. To be the best, you have to fight the best. You have to beat the men who the people believe are the best to earn the recognition as the best. That is why I want to fight Lewis or Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield or John Ruiz. I am willing to fight whoever has the belts. These are the kinds of fighters I need to get in against. It is going to take some work from the promoters, but the public wants to see me in those fights and I am ready for them now.

“At the present, nobody knows who the real star of the heavyweight division is. That is why I am looking forward to fighting in America again very much. I want to show that the Klitschko Brothers are a new wave, a new era and we are really champions. This is the next important step in my career. Boxers who want to get worldwide attention must step into the ring in the United States. The U.S. is the Mecca of boxing."

Klitschko, who got his Doctorate in Sports Science and Philosophy from The University of Kiev in January 2001, first laced up the gloves when he was a young teenager. At the time, he says, there was no way he thought boxing would become an important facet of his life.

“I got interested in boxing when I was 14, but I never thought I would make it as an amateur or as a pro,” he said. Rather, he thought he would pursue a career in medicine. “I really wanted to be a doctor,” he said. “That is what I thought I would do in my life. Being a fighter? No, never.”

Yet, here he is, at age 25, arguably the world's top heavyweight. Many say the good looking, intelligent and personable young man possesses the tools and the potential to become the next dominant champion.

“That is good to hear, but I need to prove myself,” he said. “That is why I am looking forward to fighting in the United States. After what the people in the U.S. have gone through in the last couple of months, it will be an honor for me to try and give something back to them in the form of a good fight."

Klitschko was scheduled to make his third defense against David Izon on Saturday, Dec. 1, in New York, but he had to withdraw after suffering a shoulder injury during a sparring session.

Klitschko won the gold medal in the super heavyweight division in the 1996 Olympic Games, becoming the first white gold medalist in the highest weight class in 36 years. In his four Olympic bouts, he defeated Lawrence Clay-Bey of the United States, Attila Levin of Sweden, Russia's Alexei Lezin and Tonga’s Paea Wolfgramm. He concluded an outstanding amateur career with a record of 134-6.

Wladimir restored the family name and got his revenge for his brother, Vitali, by beating the slick, southpaw Chris Byrd (31-1 going in) to capture the World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight title on Oct. 14, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

In a much easier-than-expected outing, Klitschko won an impressive, one-sided 12-round decision by the scores of 120-106, 119-107 and 118-108. Byrd, who learned the hard way not to mess with the brothers, went down twice – in the ninth and 11th – and got tagged hard in almost every round. Byrd's right eye started swelling by the fourth and closed sometime thereafter. Byrd's left eye was only half-open at bout's end.

“Byrd was a very difficult boxer to fight, but I kept my cool and my emotions under control,” Wladimir said. “He was very fast and good. It was special to win since Byrd beat my brother, but I do not hate or dislike Byrd. It was just a fight. ‘Revenge of the Brother’ (as the match up was billed) was a very hard name. I find that title too brutal. One can look at two aspects. First of all it was a title fight, which I always dreamed about. Second, Byrd did not beat up my brother badly. Vitali lost due to an injury (torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder).

“I hope this win proves that we are not soft. I am the world champion and I love my brother."

In his initial title defense, Wladimir registered a scintillating second-round TKO over Derrick Jefferson (24-2, 20 KOs going in) on March 24, 2001, in Munich, Germany – at the same venue where brother, Vitali, defeated former world champion Orlin Norris by first-round TKO two months earlier.

The hard-hitting Jefferson, who at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds had the physical dimensions seemingly to stay with Wladimir, got thoroughly destroyed. Klitschko, showing terrific poise and patience, dropped Jefferson twice with right hands – once in the first and again in the second. The referee halted the proceedings at 2:09 of the second round.

“This was an important fight for me,” Wladimir said. “I was hungry for it. I now feel I am ready for anybody in the world. Jefferson had a very big mouth, saying he would put me and my brother under the earth. Well, there was no funeral."

Wladimir retained his title a second time with an eye-catching fifth-round TKO over Charles Shufford on Aug. 4, 2001, in Las Vegas. He dominated Shufford, flooring him three times while winning every round. Klitschko, content to stay outside and throw jabs and an occasional right hand, decked Shufford in the second with a straight right that blasted the challenger off his feet and into the ropes like a crash test dummy. He went down again from a right in the third. A left hook that traveled about 18 inches finished Shufford at 2:52 of the sixth.

“This fight was very important because it was my championship debut in America,” Klitschko said. “I knew a lot of people in boxing would be watching. I wanted to win convincingly and leave a good impression. I would have liked to give the crowd a more boisterous performance, but I knew he was a very cautious fighter and it is tough to fight a careful, cautious fighter like that and look good. So I had to fight smart and do some problem solving. My left hook was very sharp in training, so that solved my problem, but I knew it was not going to be easy. I knew I would have to be patient and wait for the right spot. Which is why I trained and worked so hard for him. Overall, I was very pleased with my performance and the result."

In preparation for his second Vegas outing, he arrived in town two months early to acclimate himself with the summer desert heat. “It was a good idea that I arrived when I did because the heat was terrible,” he said. “The preparation itself was difficult, but I finally became perfectly adapted. I like Las Vegas, and meeting new people. I wish I had a Ph.D. in the English language so I would be able to make more friends in Las Vegas and all the United States, but I am doing OK."

Klitschko turned pro at age 20 on Nov. 16, 1996, and scored a first-round TKO over Fabian Meza in Hamburg, Germany. He went 2-0 that year, and 13-0 the next. In his 1998 debut, Wladimir captured the WBC International heavyweight by knocking out Marcus McIntyre (15-1 going in) in the second round on Feb. 14. His 17-fight knockout streak ended the following March 14 when he was taken the distance by Everett “Big Foot” Martin in an eight-round bout.

He won his next six by knockout. Two came in WBC International title defenses, another in his United States debut against Carlos “The Shock Absorber” Monroe on Aug. 6, 1998, in Marksville, La.

His 24-fight winning streak ended when he lost on an 11th-round TKO to Tulsa, Oklahoma veteran Ross Puritty (23-13-1 going in) on Dec. 15, 1998, in his first appearance as a pro in his hometown of Kiev, Ukraine. It was a lack of stamina more than anything Puritty did that cost Wladimir, who was making the third defense of his WBC International title. Klitschko, who had never gone past eight rounds, was comfortably ahead on the scorecards, but he literally collapsed from exhaustion. He went down twice in the 10th – only one was ruled a knockdown – and stopped at 0:18 of the 11th.

“This fight, even though I lost, made me stronger,” he said. “I feel that I won because I learned so much. I did a lot of promotion for the fight. I wanted it to be perfect for my hometown audience. But I did not have the proper focus or concentration. I did not prepare mentally and physically the way I should have and I ran out of gas. I was only 22. I was arrogant and I paid the price. But it was a positive experience.

“No one wants to lose, but it made me an overall better fighter. I was having it go my way for so long. I was younger and at that time felt invincible. I felt I was the best and nothing could happen to me, much like Lewis in his fight against Hasim Rahman in South Africa. But boxers must lose sometimes and I simply learned a hard lesson about what it takes to be a professional. You must train hard, not only in the ring but in the gym every day. I did not do that for that fight. So even though I lost, I won. I will make sure such a defeat will never happen again.”

Said his trainer, Fritz Sdunek: “Like Vitali, Wladimir started in the pros with an incredibly high tempo and thought that everything would go very fast. Then came the defeat with Wladimir against Puritty in Kiev. Since then, they have worked a lot better. They trust me more and everything has gone well.”

Since the loss, Klitschko has won 13 in a row, all but one – the bout with Byrd - by knockout. Along the way, he won the WBA Continental heavyweight title on a fifth-round TKO over Joseph Chingangu on July 17, 1999, in Dusseldorf, Germany. The following Sept. 26, he captured the vacant European heavyweight title with an eighth-round TKO over two-time world challenger Axel Schulz in Cologne, Germany. In front of 18,000 fans and 11 million TV viewers, Klitschko dominated. He knocked down Schulz twice in the eighth and the bout was terminated at 2:43. The German had never been stopped before and had been competitive with George Foreman, Frans Botha and Michael Moorer. But in this one, Schultz took a beating from the opening bell.

Klitschko made his second U.S. start on Nov. 12, 1999, and starched Phil Jackson in two rounds in Las Vegas. His finishing thuds against Jackson nearly dropped ringsiders.

After retaining his European title with a second-round TKO over Lajos Eros on Dec. 4, 1999, in Hannover, Germany, Klitschko overwhelmed Olympic rival out Paea Wolfgramm (18-1 going in) to win the WBC International heavyweight title on March 18, 2000. Landing almost every punch he threw, Wladimir bloodied Wolfgramm and knocked him down, and he was counted out on all fours at 1:30 of the first round. Klitschko won the gold in 1996 Olympics by out pointing Wolfgramm on a 7-3 decision in the final.

Klitschko retained his WBA Continental crown on a second-round TKO over David Bostice (32-1-1 going in) on the Lennox Lewis-Michael Grant under card on April 29, 2000, in New York City. Wladimir scored two knock downs in the first and two more in the second. After the final knockdown, the fight was stopped without a count at 1:27 of the round. Klitschko recorded a seventh-round TKO over Monte Barrett the following July in London. Barrett went down once in the first and fourth and three times in the seventh before the bout was stopped at 2:42. In his next start, he dethroned Byrd.

Wladimir’s hobbies include snow boarding, skiing, playing soccer and, like his brother, Vitali, is a serious chess player. He once played a game against world champion Garry Kasparov. “That was a mismatch,” he said. “The game was over so fast. Garry went from table to table and played a lot of people at the same time, including against Vitali and myself. It was a great experience.”

Regarding his personal beliefs, Wladimir is confident and philosophical. "I believe in God and in myself,” he said. “During the Soviet era people didn't have much chance to practice religion. Life without belief is meaningless. To me it does not matter if you are Buddhist, Muslim or Christian, or whatever you put your faith in, a man needs to have beliefs, hopes, dreams. Still, unlike some other boxers - and I don't want to mention any names - I do not make an issue out of religion nor do I feel the need to preach it, or mention my faith in every sentence. My personal beliefs belong to my inner world."