The Champ: Wladimir Klitschko

When Wladimir Klitschko was born on March 26, 1976, Ukraine was still a Soviet Socialist Republic in Brezhnev's USSR. They were born in Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, a place infamous as being home to the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, where open tests of nuclear weapons spread fall-out across the countryside and produced some truly legendary birth defects among the local population. However, such open testing was ended in 1963, long before Colonel Wladimir Rodionovich of the Soviet Air Force fathered the youngest of his two sons.

Klitschko started boxing at the age of 14, and by the time he reached international amateur competition he was representing an independent Ukraine and not the Soviet Union. He won Gold at the 1995 World Military Championships, Silver as a Super Heavyweight at the 1996 European Championships, and Gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He wrapped up his amateur career with a record of 134-6 with 65 KOs.

Both Klitschko and his older brother Vitali were big men and superb athletes, and both were watched very carefully from the time they entered the pro boxing scene. Wladimir was a little smaller at six foot six and a half inches, but he was the better all-around athlete. For a 240 pound man, Wladimir was has surprisingly fast hands and feet, was coordinated, and possessed of good reflexes and balance. He was a giant, but not a lumbering one, and could pump an awesome 1-2 with an 81 inch reach.

Ignominy

Wlad signed with Germany's Universium Promotions, and relocated to Germany. Turning pro in November 1996, he was 17-0 by the time he met his first gatekeeper in 1998: Everett "Bigfoot" Martin. Although 20-21-1 at the time, Martin's losses read like a who's who of 1990s heavyweight contenders. Klitschko handily outpointed him. The winning streak continued until he met another gatekeeper in December of that year, Ross Puritty. Puritty was another journeyman of the type that you could count on to lose with style when matched against a world class heavyweight, and his resume's most noteworthy features were his star-studded losses and a singular Draw over Tommy Morrisson in 1994. Klitschko was outpointing him easily, but becoming seriously over-extended. The Puritty bout was the first time Klitschko had fought past 8 rounds, and that 8 rounder had been against Martin. Wlad simply ran out of gas, Puritty pounced on him, knocked him down in the 10th, and his corner threw in the towel in the 11th to prevent him from taking a bigger beating.

The boxing world immediately began to dismiss Klitschko, although the truth is that his only flaw was being inexperienced and having a team in his corner that did not teach him how to fight a 12 Round bout. He got back to work, fighting frequently. In 1999, he rematched and knocked out Martin, and then later stopped and retired German fringe contender Axel Schultz. 2000 saw him smash his Olympic rival, the 18-1 Paea Wolfgramm, and then a durable journeyman in Monte Barrett.

Fringe Champion

While Wlad was making his comeback from the Puritty loss, his older brother Vitali captured the WBO belt. In a defense against the wily Chris Byrd, he threw out his shoulder and quit on his stool. Backed by their mutual German promoters, Wladimir was sent in to challenge Byrd for the title and restore the family honor. Outweighing Byrd by 25 pounds, the younger Klitschko dominated Byrd, knocked him down twice, and earned a landslide Unanimous Decision. Wladimir Klitschko now had a piece of the world heavyweight title.

In 2000, Lennox Lewis was then perceived to be the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, so Klitschko and his belt were lightly regarded. He defended it five times, against the likes of fringe contender Franz Botha (TKO8), an old and washed up Ray Mercer (TKO6), and fringe contender Jameel McCline (TKO10). It was an impressive start, even if none of his opponents were world-beaters.

Then in March 2003, Klitschko met Corrie Sanders. The South African was a quick, hard-hitting puncher who might have made a bigger splash in boxing, if only he had been more interested in pugilism over golf. Sanders speed and pop scored a huge upset, sending the big Ukrainian crashing to the canvas twice in the 1st, and then twice again in the 2nd en route to a TKO win. Once again, Klitschko had been humbled, but at least some of the blame must go to his corner. They treated the 37 year old Sanders as an easy, name "mark" in the fashion of Botha or Mercer, but this was a guy who fought a see-saw puncher's war with Baltimore knucklehead Hasim Rahman that left Rahman claiming Sanders hit harder than even Lennox Lewis.

Klitschko started another comeback, and knocked out and retired fringe contender Danell Nicholson on the way. He then hired famed trainer Emmanuel Steward, and in his first fight with Steward in the corner he met Lamon Brewster for his old title (vacated by Corrie Sanders) in April 2004. Brewster was hardly a top fighter (he had dropped a points loss to journeyman Charles Shufford), but he came to fight and took the battle to Klitschko. Wlad knocked him down in the 4th, but Brewster got up and kept the pressure on. Exhausted and taken out of his game, Klitschko was knocked down by a right hand and then stopped in the 5th. It was hardly an auspicious beginning for Klitschko and his new team, and many thought Wladimir was finished.

Rise to the Top

The losses to Sanders and Brewster taught both Klitschko and Steward some important lessons. While they worked on ironing out the flaws in Klitschko's fundamentals, they also adopted a safety-first game plan that made the most of Wladimir's advantages: good speed, long reach, and size. It was in this fourth comeback that the Wladimir Klitschko game plan for winning fights developed, and while it may have produced some truly boring fights, there was no denying that it worked.

After stopping DaVarryl Williamson and Eliseo Castillo, Klitschko met the first big test of his road back to a world title: a 2005 IBF eliminator for #1 contender status with undefeated Sam "The Nigerian Nightmare" Peter. It was Peter's first big fight, and Klitschko's superior experience showed as he won a solid, but far from decisive points victory.

That earned Klitschko a shot at the world championship with his old rival Chris Byrd. Byrd was cousins with Brewster, and unwisely listened to his advice to pressure the big Ukrainian. However, Byrd was not Brewster and Wladimir was no longer the man who had been knocked out by him. For a slickster like Byrd to attack a mammoth like Klitschko merely accelerated his destruction. He was knocked down by a big right in the 5th, and then cut badly by another right in the 7th. The cut led to a stoppage. Klitschko was once again a world champion.

Becoming the Man

With the win over Byrd, Klitschko began a title reign that established him as the best heavyweight of his era. In 2006 and 2007, he demolished an undefeated Calvin Brock and got revenge by spanking Lamon Brewster. Then he met and utterly dominated WBO Champion Sultan Ibragimov in 2008, adding that title to his waist. He crushed Hasim Rahman, and in 2009 forced de facto WBA Champion Ruslan Chagaev to quit in the 9th. The Chagaev victory confirmed his status as the dominant heavyweight in the world.

Is He Really That Good?

The truth is that while the modern heavyweight division is thin on talent, Klitschko is not part of that problem. His safety-first style does not lend itself well to putting his strength and power on display, but those assets are there when he needs them. Plus, for a 6'6", 240 lbs man, Klitschko is quick and agile. Against this, he has a merely average chin and a propensity to tire. One of the main reasons Klitschko has adopted the style of fighting he has is to protect his chin and his stamina. Still, to beat a man with his experience, confidence, and tools, an opponent will need a good punch plus either a major edge in speed, or equal size and an edge in toughness. As it stands right now, until Wladimir Klitschko starts getting old, there is no one on the horizon that truly poses a threat to him.

Sources: boxrec.com; hbo.com/boxing/fighters/klitschko_wladimir/bio.html; eastsideboxing.com; live fight footage; International Boxing Diget; The Ring