Since 2005, Klitschko has been the dominant force in the heavyweight division, defeating a majority of the top heavyweights in the rankings. When Klitschko won the IBF title against Chris Byrd there were four separate Heavyweight Champions. Since then, he has unified the IBF, IBO, WBO & WBA belts and defeated the WBA Champion in recess. Following his win over Ruslan Chagaev, Klitschko was awarded the vacant Ring Magazine Heavyweight title.
Klitschko has held at least a piece of the heavyweight championship since 2006, when he won the IBF title. The most recent bout in which he claimed a piece of the undisputed title was when he won the WBA championship from David Haye in 2011.
Klitschko turned professional with Universum Box-Promotion in Hamburg under the tutelage of Fritz Sdunek.
After building an undefeated record of 24–0, he suffered his first loss to journeyman Ross Puritty, who entered the bout with a record of 24–13–1. Wladimir Klitschko's coach, Fritz Sdunek, jumped into the ring and stopped the fight at the start of the eleventh round.
On 18 March 2000, Wladimir fought Paea Wolfgramm, whom he fought previously in the 1996 Super Heavyweight Olympic Finals. In their professional rematch, Klitschko knocked Wolfgramm out in the first round.
Klitschko was born in Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR (now Semey, Kazakhstan). His father, Vladimir Rodionovich Klitschko (1947–2011), was a Soviet Air Force major general (soviet two stars general) and a military attaché of Ukraine in Germany; he was also one of the commanders in charge of cleaning up the effects of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and was afterward diagnosed with cancer. Wladimir's mother is Nadezhda Ulyanovna.
In the summer of 1996, Klitschko finished Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky Pedagogical Institute (Ukraine) and was accepted in the postgraduate study program of Kiev University. On 18 January 2001, in a conference hall of Kyiv University of physical science and sports, Klitschko presented his doctoral dissertation and was awarded a PhD in Sports Science. Klitschko speaks four languages: Ukrainian, Russian, German and English. At the beginning of his professional career, he began using the German transliteration of his name, Wladimir.
On 22 April 2006, in Mannheim, Germany, Klitschko defeated Chris Byrd for a second time, this time by technical knockout, in a contest for the IBF & IBO Heavyweight Championships. Referee Wayne Kelly stopped the fight in the seventh round after a knockdown—Byrd beat the count, but his face was battered and bloody, and the fight was waved off.
He returned in November, facing the arguably the fastest rising contender, undefeated Calvin Brock at Madison Square Garden, Wladimir had difficulties reaching the awkward Brock. After four rounds Harold Lederman had it even at 38–38. However, from fifth round onward, Klitschko became more active and his jab became a factor and Brock became more flat-footed, leaving him easier to hit. Brock was floored in the seventh round, although he barely beat the count, Referee Kelly felt he was in no condition to continue.
Klitschko then defeated mandatory challenger Ray Austin on 10 March 2007, at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany by a second-round knockout with four consecutive left hooks to Austin's head. Klitschko did not use his right hand once during the fight, doing all his work with his left jab and left hook.
Klitschko was scheduled to defend his titles against Alexander Povetkin later in 2008, but on 25 October, Povetkin withdrew from the fight due to an ankle injury. Instead, Klitschko faced Hasim Rahman on 13 December 2008 and won by TKO. This was the third time Klitschko fought at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. He dominated the fight, winning every round while making good use of his left jab. From the first bell the difference in physical strength was profound. Rahman seemed unable to withstand Klitschko's punch power. The referee finally called a stop to the one-sided contest in the 7th round after Rahman failed to respond to a series of good shots.
Klitschko was scheduled to face David Haye, who pulled out within weeks of the fight complaining of a back injury. Salvaging the 20 June 2009 date and venue, Klitschko instead retained the IBF, WBO and IBO Heavyweight titles and also won the vacant Ring Magazine heavyweight title by defeating replacement opponent and Ring No. 3 ranked Ruslan Chagaev when Chagaev retired after an onslaught of punches towards the end of the ninth round. As Chagaev was WBA Champion, the title was not on the line. Klitschko's win over Chagaev was seen as one of his most impressive performances in the ring. He controlled the tempo of the fight from the very beginning and hit Chagaev at will with the jab. He hit Chagaev with several hard right crosses and never allowed him to build momentum. Towards the end of the second round Klitschko caught Chagaev off balance and sent him to the canvas. Chagaev recovered but was dominated thereafter. This win had added significance because even though the WBA title was not on the line, many saw Klitschko as the rightful champion.
On 9 December 2009, Klitschko's management group, K2 Promotions confirmed that a bout with Eddie Chambers has been agreed to take place in Germany on 20 March 2010. This mandatory title defense, originally scheduled for December 2009 had to be delayed due to a hand injury that Klitschko sustained in training that required surgery.
Klitschko defeated Chambers by knockout five seconds before the end of the final round. He was criticized between rounds by his trainer Emanuel Steward for not fighting aggressively enough despite having won all prior rounds and Chambers only fighting back weakly. Klitschko began punching more often during the final round than he had done before which eventually led to his left hook hitting Chambers to the forehead. The punch made Chambers fall forwards and lost consciousness for an extended period of time. The referee stepped in and called an end to the contest instantly.
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