Retired heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko is one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all time thanks to his extraordinary strength and agility, which distinguishes him from other boxers in his weight class.
The two-time world heavyweight champion has fought a record 29 heavyweight title fights, more than any other heavyweight champion in the history of the sport, including Muhammad Ali, who won 23 of these fights. He also has the record of beating most boxers with an unbeaten record (12), giving him the longest combined heavyweight world championship time in heavyweight history.
Wladimir Klitschko Biography (Age)
Klitschko was born as one of the two children of Vladimir Vladimirovich Klitschko and Nadezhda Ulyanovna on March 25, 1976, in Semipalatinsk (now Semey), Kazakh SSR (now Kazakhstan). His father was a Major General of the Air Force for the Soviet Union, while his mother was a housewife.
In the 1990s he started his journey to become a famous boxer and joined the Polish boxing club Gwarda Warszawa, where he and his older brother Vitali dominated the opponents. Afterward, as a heavyweight, he took part in the 1993 European Junior Championships, which he won, but could not repeat the success at the Junior World Championships the following year as he finished second. Klitschko then dominated amateur heavyweight boxing and won the super heavyweight gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta to present himself to the world with an amateur record of 134 wins and 6 defeats.
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After the Olympic Games Klitschko decided to become a professional boxer and made his debut on a fighting card with his brother in November 1996 in Hamburg, Germany. He continued to set an unbeaten record of 24 consecutive victories, 22 of which were knockout victories, before suffering his first defeat against American boxer Ross Purity in 1998.
Despite the surprise defeat, Klitschko continued his meteoric rise in the sport, winning the WBA free title in the intercontinental heavyweight, European heavyweight, and WBC international heavyweight divisions. With his victory over American Chris Byrd, he added the WBO heavyweight title to the list. He kept the belt in five consecutive fights before being knocked out of balance by South African Corrie Sanders in the fight that was voted “Upset of the Year” by Ring Magazine in Hanover on March 8, 2003. Sanders dropped Klitschko first twice in the opening round and then twice more in the second round before the fight was stopped by the referee.
After another lost fight, this time against Lamon Brewster on April 10, 2004, Wladimir Klitschko went under the watchful eye of legendary boxing coach Emanuel Steward, with whom he started an unbeaten series and won four championship belts with 22 consecutive victories before unanimously falling into the hands of Englishman Tyson Fury.
Klitschko attempted a comeback against England’s Anthony Joshua in April 2017 but lost again due to a technical knockout in the 11th minute. The duo had a replay clause in their contract, and after discussions about a possible return match, Wladimir Klitschko called for a career break on August 3, 2017, on his official website and in social media. He retired with a record of 64 wins from 69 matches, 53 of which were won by knockout.
Klitschko’s Family – Wife, Baby, Brother
Wladimir Klitschko is currently in a long-term relationship with the actress Hayden Panettiere, having previously been married to the Ukrainian model Aleksandra Avizova from 1996-1998. Klitschko and Panettiere began meeting in 2009 after they met at a book launch party of a mutual acquaintance. Despite a brief separation in 2011, the two got engaged in October 2013 before welcoming a child together, a daughter named Kaya, born on December 9, 2014.
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Klitschko’s older brother, Vitali Klitschko A.K.A. Dr. Ironfist, born on July 19, 1971, is also a famous boxer who once held the heavyweight titles of the WBC, WBO, and Ring magazine with a record of 45 wins and 2 defeats. The Klitschko brothers could never compete against each other in a professional fight because their mother made them promise that they would not compete against each other. Vitali is currently the mayor of Kiev and, like his brother Wladimir, holds a doctorate in sports science. He is married to the former sportswoman and model Natalia Egorova, with whom he has three children.
Height, Weight, and Other Facts
Birth Name: Wladimir Klitschko
Nickname: Dr. Steelhammer
Date of Birth: 25 March 1976
Place of Birth: Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union (now Semey, Kazakhstan)
Profession: Heavyweight Boxer
Height: 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m)
Weight: 109 kg