The incredible Vitali Klitschko: 5 things you hardly know about him

The incredible Vitali Klitschko: 5 things you hardly know about him

Although Wladimir Klitschko's longevity and numerous titles put him on the map of the greatest in heavyweight history, many believe that Vitali, the older of the Ukrainian brothers, was the more impressive boxer. Born in Kyrgyzstan, he is one of the greatest boxers from Eastern Europe, former WBC world champion and current mayor of Kyiv. His name is familiar enough to the mainstream boxing fan, but there are certainly things that not everyone knows about him. We present to you at least a small part of the most interesting facts about the older brother of the Klitschko dynasty.

Vitali may have two losses on his card, but neither of them came after a classic knockout. His first loss came against Chris Byrd in 2000. Klitschko completely dominated the fight, which is another defense of the WBC belt. He won 8 of 9 rounds according to the ringside judges, but in the middle of what turned out to be the last round, he suffered a serious shoulder injury. He breaks the terrible news to his staff and his trainer pulls him out of the match - a loss without a knockdown or knockout, but a TKO is awarded to his opponent.

His second defeat is even more controversial. Against Lencx Lewis in a very contested and tough fight, in which both get arcades, Klitschko again leads on points until the 6th round (4 to 2 rounds in favor of the Ukrainian), but the doctor responsible for the health of the boxers is categorical after review that Klitschko cannot continue without it being dangerous to his eye. Vitali is furious, but the referee sides with the doctor and, despite Vitali's protests, the victory is awarded to Lewis – again without a knockdown or knockout in favor of the Brit. A rematch was never arranged between the two, mainly due to Lewis' reluctance to fight Vitali again.

Vitaly is considered a sure gold medalist from the Atlanta Games in the heavyweight division. Before the Olympic Games, however, he was caught with doping. He himself claimed that the prohibited substance came into his possession because of a medicine he used for a leg injury. His protests were ignored, he was removed from amateur boxing, and his brother, Vladimir, moved up a weight class (from heavyweight to super heavyweight) to "cover" his brother's absence. And he does it brilliantly, winning the gold medal.

In 2013, Vitali Klitschko surprisingly announced his retirement from boxing, despite being at the height of his fame and seemingly without an opponent to beat him. The reason – the desire for a political career and the fight for "freedom of Ukraine". Although he was given the right to fight for the WBC title the moment he decided to return to the ring, he never did. Initially, his idea was to run for president, but later he decided to participate in the elections for the mayor of Kyiv. He is the mayor of the city to this day.

Vitaly has a healthy family, having been married since 1996 and has 3 children. One of them is called Max and is named after the great German boxer Max Schmeling. Klitschko is a huge supporter of the former champion.

When he was a child, Vitaly was in the USSR, where kickboxing and karate were banned. Subsequently, the ban on practicing these sports was lifted, and Klitschko joined the kickboxing team of the Soviet Union, and also began to train hard in karate. Thus, in his younger years, he was actively engaged in 3 martial arts. Probably, Klitschko would be a successful champion in MMA with such a rich knowledge of different sports and techniques.