The Klitschko brothers inscribed their names in the history of world boxing in golden letters. Their real name, we all remember, at the beginning of their sports career was desperately misrepresented by announcers. Vitaly and Vladimir only smiled in response, patiently explaining the cause of the confusion. I remember that one of the witty announcers on one of the American channels then joked, asking how many Klitschko brothers were in total. Then, however, he apologized.
Athletes with a difficult last name
Indeed, confusion is possible in the spelling of the surname. After all, most often media information about athletes was broadcast from Russian to Ukrainian, and vice versa. Moreover, as you know, the Ukrainian "and" in Russian is pronounced as "y".
If we analyze the names of athletes from the standpoint of German grammar, then we will come across a curious association. The word klitsch is German for "strike". In addition, based on sports abbreviations, K. O. interpreted as a knockout.
Isn't it symbolic for the athletes nicknamed Doctor Iron Fist (Vitaly) and Doctor Steel Hammer (Vladimir) by fans?
However, very soon the world remembered: the new super heavyweight megastars in boxing are called the Klitschko brothers. Their real name is now well known on all continents. The reason for this is the bright sports career of outstanding Ukrainians. In addition, they are sociable, open, friendly. Although they always emphasize their Ukrainian citizenship, people in Germany also consider them "theirs".
Childhood of boy idols
Any boy in Ukraine who is fond of boxing knows where the Klitschko brothers were born. And they appeared in the family of a Soviet officer. Their father, a military pilot, graduated from the service with the rank of major general, military attache in Germany. He took an active part in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. The resulting radiation exposure had a tragic effect on the general's he alth - cancer and premature death at the age of 65.
Vitaly was born on July 19, 1971 in the village of Belovodskoye, Kirghiz SSR. Vladimir - 1976-25-03 in the village of Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR.
Father Vladimir Rodionovich instilled in them a desire for goodness, a sense of justice, perseverance, a love of physical exercise. The guys got the opportunity to seriously engage in sports later, after their parents arrived in Ukraine in 1985. The Klitschko brothers felt the need for sports self-realization. They were real romantics, maximalists.
The first to attend boxing training was fourteen-year-old Vitaly. Three years later - Vladimir. In childhood, the age difference of 5 years is very fundamental. It will not be a mistake to say that Vitaly has the features of a realchampionship character were seen even then. His younger brother followed him. The Klitschko brothers dreamed of professional boxing, admiring the rising star - Mike Tyson.
Career
The guys were lucky with the first coach. They became Vladimir Alekseevich Zolotarev. He patiently and consistently led talented athletes to high sporting achievements. He treated the brothers as his sons, because Vitaly was his godson, and Vladimir was the godson of his wife.
It took only six years for Vitaly to grow up to the level of an international master of sports. For three years in a row, he became the champion of Ukraine, and then, in 1995, the champion of the World Military Games. Volodymyr also reached the international competitive level: he won a gold medal for Ukraine at the 26th Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Club Universum Box Primition
1996 was a milestone for both athletes: the Klitschko brothers drew a line under amateur sports by signing a contract with Universum Box Primition. Promising boxers began to train the famous specialist Fritz Sdunek.
The professional career of the brothers began brightly - with victories. Three years later, Vitaly's achievement will grace the Guinness Book of Records: becoming the WBO world champion in 1999, he then won 26 fights in a row by knockout. By the way, he became the first ever world champion in professional boxing among the Slavs.
Let us recall the brightest victories of these Ukrainian athletes in the rankprofessionals until 2005. Even if their sports career had ended with this milestone, the International Boxing Hall of Fame would have been forever adorned with a photo and biography of the Klitschko brothers. Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko by that time had already taken place as outstanding boxers. Judge for yourself…
Vitaly:
- 1998-02-05 - knockout in the fifth round of British Dicky Ryan (WBO Intercontinental Champion title);
- 24.10.1998 - knockout in the second round of Mario Schisser (Germany), winning the title of European champion;
- 26.06.1999 - in the second half of the second round, Vitaly knocks out British Herbie Hyde with a left cross and a right hook, becoming the WBO world champion;
- 27.01.2001 - KO in the first round within the first minute against Orlin Norris (USA), WBA Intercontinental title.
Vladimir:
- February 1998 - knockout of American boxer Everett Martin, WBC Intercontinental Champion title;
- October 2000 - victory on points in a 12-round fight of American Chris Byrd, winning the WBO world title (a title that Chris Byrd then took away from Vitali, defeating him with the help of perfect evasive tactics).
Vitaly's forced decision. Return of the Champion
In 2005, having received his fourth serious injury, Vitaly made a difficult decision for himself - to leave his favorite sport. For two years. However, the treatment turned out to be longer. Nevertheless, in 2008, the boxer took advantage of the championshipthe right to choose an opponent for the next fight. In March, he fought against then-current WBC world champion Samuel Peter.
Vitaly took away his high title. Subsequently, severe injuries (knees, backs, shoulders) received in the ring forced the great athlete to end his career. The elder Klitschko finished his last fight in 2011 with the Cuban Odlanier Fonte by knockout.
Vladimir's boxing career after 2005
After winning his first WBO championship belt in a fight with Chris Byrd (2000), Vladimir, despite the loss of this championship from Corrie Sanders, continued to progress as a boxer. Experts were inclined to think about the significant sports potential of the Ukrainian.
In 2006, he took the IBF title from Chris Byrd by technical knockout at the beginning of the 7th round.
23.02.2008 Vladimir, having an advantage, won the WBO world title from Russian boxer Sultan Ibragimov.
20.06.2009 Vitali Klitschko's brother in a duel with another Russian - Ruslan Chigaev, stopped by the latter's seconds, receives the WBA champion title.
By 2011, the Klitschko brothers held all but one of the famous super heavyweight championship belts. Soon the opportunity presented itself to get it. 2011-02-07 Vladimir fought with Briton David Haye for the WBA title and won
Vladimir Klitschko. How steel was tempered
Losses of the Klitschko brothers -this is a special topic. After all, it was they who gave them the opportunity to rethink the strategy and tactics, to make the necessary adjustments to their training process. They could not be. After all, brothers are always in sight. Recordings of their fights scroll through the boxing headquarters of opponents hundreds of times, looking for gaps and shortcomings in defense.
For almost twenty years, the Klitschko brothers' boxing has been a significant stimulus and, undoubtedly, a useful irritant for the development of the world's super heavyweight boxing division.
The beginning of Vladimir's professional career was not easy. But at that time, learning from his mistakes, he progressed rapidly.
Three opponents managed to beat Vladimir, outplaying him in the ring.
The first of them was the American Ros Purity (05.12.1998). 32 years against 22. Experience and perseverance won. The athlete with the nickname Boss withstood eight rounds under a hail of blows from Vladimir, and then imposed his fight on an exhausted opponent, physically not ready for a full distance of 12 rounds.
The second defeat of Vladimir was inflicted on 2003-08-03 by South African Corry Sanders. In battle, he fully justified his nickname Sniper. He managed to find a weakness in Vladimir's defense, the key to which was a left direct blow. This fight was sad for the younger brother. He could not adapt to the opponent. Corry hit while Vladimir fell…
The third defeat against the American Lamon Brewster on 2004-10-04 turned out to be mysterious and dramatic. After the gong of the fifth roundUkrainian, before reaching his corner, just collapsed on the ring surface. The fight was interrupted, the doctors diagnosed him with a critical level of blood sugar.
The defeat of Vladimir in 2015
Vitali Klitschko's brother did not know defeat for 11 years. However, sport is sport… On November 28, 2015, Briton Tyson Fury of basketball height, nicknamed the Gypsy Baron, who has a more impressive anthropometry, defeated Vladimir, taking all his championship belts.
This fight was not the best for Klitschko Jr. He didn't win it. However, he did not lose. Experts say that the fight was equal … According to world practice, in such cases, the victory is awarded to the champion. But not in this fight. Obviously, the judges wanted to end the “Klitschko era”. In rounds 8-11, Fury dominated. Due to the length of his arms, his jab was more effective. Vladimir did not manage to find the optimal distance to the opponent.
But in the 12th round, the younger Klitschko finally moved away from many years of accumulated templates that turned out to be ineffective, began to take risks, “shot in”: Fury kept a deaf defense in the corner. However, this was not enough to win.
From the lips of some experts there is an idea that the reason for the defeat is the age of the Klitschko brothers (this year Wladimir turns 40, while Tyson Fury is only 28). However, the athlete's coach Jonathan Banks said in an interview that he did not agree with this. He blames the failure on correctable shortcomings in the training process.
Indeed, such a long dominance of two athletes is unique-brothers in the heavyweight division. It is possible only with the highest skill and dedication. Idle discussions in the press about how old the Klitschko brothers are do not reflect the sports and life potential of these Ukrainians.
Brothers talking
After the defeat by Fury, the brothers discussed the expediency of Vladimir's further career in a conversation. The elder Klitschko said about his brother that he can safely leave boxing as a legend.
After all, the unification of three championship belts in professional boxing is a super task, feasible only for a few. However, Vitaly pointed to another option - to prove to everyone that the defeat was accidental. Vladimir chose the second path, deciding to use the right of revenge.
Tension Episode
It happened ten years ago, after Vladimir's defeat by Lymon Brewster. The real reason for the loss is still shrouded in mystery. The Ukrainian boxer, who fell on the platform of the ring after the gong of the 5th round, was unable to get up on his own. Conducted express analyzes gave grounds to suspect an unknown kind of poisoning. Judging by the test scores, the mighty hero suddenly turned into an invalid.
However, while the incident was being investigated by the competent services, Vitaly was already taking his brother to the hospital. He was very afraid of losing him, afraid for his life. Therefore, in a conversation with him, he insisted on the completion of sports performances.
Vladimir got depressed after that. He was more afraid of the end of his career than death. Klitschko Jr. claimed that his reallife is boxing. A short but fundamental conflict arose between the brothers.
Then, in 2004. Vladimir did not allow Vitaly to attend his training camp. Subsequently, he recovered, defeated himself, believed in his own strength. The brothers, of course, soon reconciled.
Concluding the story of this dark story, let's mention some of its significant details. The incident was investigated by the FBI. His results were classified.
Not boxing alone
Talking about the brothers, it is impossible not to remember Umberto Eco's brilliant quote from his novel "Foucault's Pendulum" that a genius always plays on one component, but does it brilliantly, so all other components are automatically connected to the game. For the Klitschko brothers, professional boxing served as a powerful social lift.
He gave them prosperity, fame in the world, popularity. In 2011, in the ranking of the richest Ukrainians published by Korrespondent magazine, the brothers took a place in the top hundred with a capital of $55 million. They receive income from advertisements for the Mercedes car company, from the Telecom telephone company, from the vitamin manufacturer Eunov, from the McFit gym network.
It is impossible not to mention the new career of heavyweight boxing Vitali Klitschko - political. As the mayor of Kyiv, he is always in sight.
Wladimir also has a hobby outside the ring. In addition to sports, he also has artistic abilities. It is no coincidence that Klitschko Jr. can be seenas an actor in the films "Ocean's Eleven", "Blood and Sweat: Anabolics", "Handsome". He has already starred in 12 film series: "Blood Brothers", "Conan", "Breakfast", "Our Best", "Gym".
Recently, Vladimir made his debut as a teacher at the University of St. Gallen. He is also developing a program from KMG and the University of Switzerland to teach people the art of being successful.
Vitaly and Vladimir jointly implement social projects through the Klitschko Brothers Fund. With its help, they use borrowed and own funds for sports and general education of the younger generation. The Fund is the largest investor in sports projects in Ukraine. With its financing, more than 130 children's sports grounds have been opened. It annually finances the largest in the CIS and the world's only international junior boxing tournament for the prize of the Klitschko brothers.
Conclusion
Worthy of respect are people who have achieved social recognition and personal well-being through professional implementation.
Now the world certainly knows the names of the Klitschko brothers. And this is not surprising, because with their charisma, intelligence, sports behavior and, of course, boxing style, they contributed to the development and popularization of this sport. They are willingly invited to TV shows, they are interviewed. As a matter of fact, they did more to popularize Ukraine in the world than all its diplomats.
