Fight by Fight: Vitali Klitschko

[HomicideHenry]

Prior to Amateur Boxing

The elder Klitschko brother's first love was Kickboxing and the Martial Arts. He excelled at the highest level of competition going 34-2 (22). Ironically the most noted fight of his kickboxing career was the only knockout he ever suffered and that was against Pele Reid in 1992 for the European Championship.

The following is Klitschko's known filmed Kickboxing matches--- in no particular order. From 1985-1995 he competed as an amateur in Boxing and before he turned pro in 1996 he had an amateur record of 195-15. He was supposed to be in the '96 Olympics but tested positive for PEDs therefore his younger brother Wladimir took his place.



Highlight Video (Fan Made)



1993, All-Japan Kickboxing



1992, European Championships



Klitschko, 17-2 at the time



Nice little documentary on Richard Vince who fought Vitali Klitschko twice in Kickboxing

Amateur Boxing Highlights




Controversial decision loss for Vitali Klitschko


Opening Remarks Before Full Review of Professional Boxing Career

Vitali's experience as a cross-trained athlete made him one of the most difficult puzzles in heavyweight history. Because of the Martial Arts background he presented different angles and lines of attack that traditional boxers were not exposed to. Combined with his size advantages (6'8" w/ 85" reach) he was all the more problematic. Also, because of the hard rigorous lifestyle of two different worlds his chin developed to such an extent that even powerful punchers didn't seem to effect him. It'd take men of the highest quality to make Klitschko look vulnerable.

One must wonder had the UFC and other MMA leagues been more developed in the mid-90s would Klitschko have dominated that arena. With athletes like Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, at the top of the leader board it's likely that he would have.

[Caractacus]

aww man, we already had this thread.
I will bump it up to prove it.

[HomicideHenry]

1st fight
Tony Bradham, off balance by the long jab of Klitschko hits the deck in the first round. Vitali, unlike his brother Wladimir, fights with his hands low. Bradham is stopped in the second round.



2nd fight
Frantisek Sumina, 2-17, dropped almost immediately in the fight and dropped soon afterwards. The referee calls it off despite Sumina's protests.



3rd fight
Brian Sargent, one of the "infamous" journeymen of the era (9-8) easily dispatched of by Klitschko. Sargent would wind up with a record of 16-16.



4th fight
Mike Acklie, 11-12-1, looked more like your local plumber than a fighter, and he was knocked out almost immediately.



5th fight
Troy Roberts, 8-3, looked more the part this time, but hurt early on. He lasts into the 2nd round, and it's clear that Vitali is way too much for this class of men.



6th fight
Calvin Jones, 20-15, despite his experience in numbers gets stopped in the first round.



7th fight
Derrick Roddy, 17-11, lasts two rounds.



8th fight
Cleveland Woods, 14-11, also lasts two rounds.



9th fight
Jimmy Haynes, 10-5-1, once again lasts two rounds with Vitali Klitschko. Thus far the two Klitschko's have traveled an identical pathway through the heavyweight division.



10th fight
Will Hinton, 16-11-1. Same story. 2nd round stoppage. Nothing more to note.

[HomicideHenry]

aww man, we already had this thread.
I will bump it up to prove it.

Lol, my bad. You can link it in here if you like as a backup in case either one gets deleted someway somehow. Just for boredom sakes I'm going to continue though. Lennox Lewis is next. Going down the line of the lineal champions.

[Caractacus]

hey,I pretty much stopped after his 10th pro fight in that earlier thread,so you can pick it up on your thread and complete it out (if you want to,my finger hurts)and let that thread fade into "bolivian".
I didn't seem to have a link to his 11th pro fight(Gilberto Williamson) tho,can you find it ?

[HomicideHenry]

11th fight
Gilberto Williamson unfortunately cannot be found. The two Klitschko's have this man as a common opponent. Williamson was 4-3-3 when Vitali Klitschko fought him, extending him into the 6th round of a scheduled 8 rounds. To compare, Wladimir Klitschko beat Williamson in the 4th round.



12th fight
Herman Delgado, 12-8-1, lasts three rounds with Vitali Klitschko.



13th fight
Anthony Willis, 16-6, lasts five rounds with Vitali Klitschko. This is the second time Klitschko's been taken passed the 4th round.



14th fight
Marcus "Big Tuna" Rhode, who fought the likes of Tommy Morrison, is 20-7 at this time. Rhode would later become one of the sports most notable journeymen. He lasts two rounds.



15th fight
Alben Belinski, 5-0-0, made a big mistake taking on Klitschko, losing his prospect status. He tries to make a dogfight out of it, but can't stand up to Vitali's fire power. He lands many flush shots on Klitschko but it doesn't effect the Ukrainian.



16th fight
Louis Monaco, 7-11-2, built like a brick shithouse as always lasts three rounds with Vitali Klitschko. That bodybuilder physique failed to intimidate.



17th fight
Levi Billups, 21-16-1, lasts two rounds. One of the most known journeymen at that time. Easy work for Klitschko.

[HomicideHenry]

18th fight
Julius Francis, 18-6, was a respected heavyweight who had already been the English & Commonwealth Heavyweight champion. So this was Klitschko's biggest fight to date, and he won by 2nd round kayo. Vitali's rise to bonafide contender came at a faster pace than Wladimir's by nearly a dozen fights. It must be noted Francis would knock out Pele Reid in his next fight--- the same man who kayoed Vitali back in '92 in the European Championships. Reid was 13-0-0 at the time and everyone wanted that rematch.



19th fight
Dicky Ryan, 46-3, was (at the time) considered a hot property in the heavyweight division, however, despite his magnificent record--- the truth is Ryan was mainly a manufactured heavyweight with a padded record. There was much animosity between the two men, and Klitschko stopped him in five rounds to win the WBO Intercontinental title.



20th fight
Jose Ribalta, 39-14-1, had seen better days. Trying to recapture some of his former glories from the 80s. He'd be stopped in two rounds. It didn't really do much for Klitschko's stock or legacy, but it was another day at the office.



21st fight
14-6-1 Ricardo Kennedy was Klitschko's first fight in America. Vitali was ranked #5 in the world, and Wladimir was ranked #7 in the world. It seems that the younger brother was being pushed too fast up the ratings, considering Vitali's taken the more meaningful route. 1st round kayo.



22nd fight
Mario Schiesser, 36-3-1, was for the vacant EBU Heavyweight championship and Vitali won via 2nd round kayo.



23rd fight
Francesco Spinelli, 19-4, was blown away in the first round. Successful defense of the EBU Heavyweight belt.



24th fight
Ishmael Youla, 11-2, yet another successful defense of the EBU Heavyweight belt. Ends in two rounds. Sitting at ringside is WBO Heavyweight champion Herbie Hide who Klitschko's already signed on to fight.

[Caractacus]

Vitali Klitschko no doubt got his unique ring movement from his days as a kick-boxer,
except he dodn't kick anymore.

[HomicideHenry]

25th fight
Herbie Hide, 31-1, had only lost to Riddick Bowe in his career. "The Dancing Destroyer" was fast and hit hard. Not unlike David Haye in many respects. Following the Klitschko fight he was never quite the same & would later campaign as a Cruiserweight. Vitali stopped him in two rounds and became "somebody" at long last winning the WBO Heavyweight championship.



26th fight
Ed Mahone, 21-0-2, was considered a legitimate threat to the lineal title let alone Vitali Klitschko, but his undefeated streak ended in the 3rd round. This just further cemented Vitali as the most logical contender to champion Lennox Lewis.



27th fight
Obed Sullivan, 34-5-1, was the first man to take Vitali beyond eight rounds. He'd get stopped in the 9th. Sullivan prior to this had been stopped by Michael Grant (9th of 12) and lost decisions to Hasim Rahman, Jesse Ferguson, and Derrick Jefferson. So Klitschko was certainly on track showing he belonged beating this "gate keeper".



28th fight
In one of the most bizarre fights of the 2000's, Klitschko was originally scheduled to face Razor Ruddock. On ten days notice Chris Byrd was selected to replace him. Byrd, 30-1-0, had only lost to Ike Ibeabuchi and had wins against Jimmy Thunder and Bert Cooper. Klitschko, winning every single round, suddenly retires in his corner between rounds 9 and 10 complaining that his shoulder was injured. Larry Merchant, commentator at HBO, went off in a tirade saying: "He doesn’t have the mentality of a champion. I can hardly believe what I just saw." This stigma would stay with Vitali for several years as "the brother with no heart." Vitali legitimately had a torn rotator cuff, but critics to this day will say, "He could have lost the last three rounds and still would have won!", so he'll always have his detractors over this contest.

[HomicideHenry]

29th fight
Timo Hoffman, 22-0, 6'7.5" and 253 was Klitschko's tallest opponent in his career, and its the first time Vitali went the distance over 12 rounds. For the vacant EBU Heavyweight belt. There was talk that Vitali had stamina issues considering the Byrd fight, so this time Vitali fought tactically to demonstrate that he had no stamina issues.




30th fight
Orlin Norris, 51-6, for the vacant WBA Intercontinental title. First round blowout, as expected considering Norris was significantly older & smaller. It did little to help his image, as he was still being written off by the boxing public.



31st fight
28-14-3 Ross Purrity was a revenge fight. This would be a common pattern of the Klitschko's where if one brother got embarrassed the other would rectify the mistake. Vitali paying back his brother for taking his place in the Olympics, gives Ross Purrity the beating of his life stopping him in the 11th round. Months before Purrity had kayoed Wladimir. Prior to this Purrity had never been stopped (if you overlook his TKO loss in his 2nd fight as a pro).



32nd fight
Vaughn Bean, 42-2, gets stopped in the 11th round by Klitschko, but nobody is impressed. This is primarily because Bean was a very unpopular heavyweight because of his style and because he had previously lost to Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer. Fair or unfair, Vitali was not getting much credit and Wladimir Klitschko was gaining steam as "the better brother" after avenging his older brother by beating Chris Byrd and becoming the new WBO champion.



33rd fight
Larry Donald, 39-2-2, was yet another unpopular heavyweight who had a boring "safety first" style who had previously lost to Kirk Johnson and Riddick Bowe ('94). Klitschko stops him in the 10th round of this WBA title eliminator. Still, he's perceived as being the inferior of the two brothers.



34th fight
Lennox Lewis was supposed to fight Kirk Johnson. With only a few days notice Vitali Klitschko, the alleged weaker of the two brothers with no heart, was signed up. Prior to this contest, Wladimir Klitschko lost to Corrie Sanders to the shock and surprise of everyone, so stock in the Klitschko family name was at an all-time low and nobody expected Lennox Lewis to have any problems as he was riding high after his battle with Mike Tyson. Between Lewis's assumption that he was in no danger, and Lewis allowing himself to get quite fat (256) because he didn't feel the need to train properly for Johnson--- what happened next erased any & all doubts as to Klitschko's heart and willingness to dig down deep. Vitali Klitschko was now the heavyweight division's hottest property.

[HomicideHenry]

35th fight
Quite possibly the most dominate showing of Klitschko's career left Kirk Johnson looking like a harpooned whale in two short rounds. At this time Lennox Lewis was debating whether or not to rematch Klitschko and a purse of $35 million dollars was being thrown out there. After stopping Johnson the elder Klitschko said, "Lennox I know you are watching and I'm waiting for my rematch!"



36th fight
With Lennox Lewis bowing out & retiring from the sport the only fight worth making was Vitali Klitschko and WBO champion Corrie Sanders. The match was a grudge fight and for revenge as it was Sanders who knocked out Wladimir. In yet another thrilling slugfest Vitali Klitschko became the new heavyweight champion of the world. For those who felt the 'Lewis Era' was boring the giant Ukrainian was seen as a welcome relief.



37th fight
Klitschko's first title defense was supposed to be Mike Tyson, but Englishman Danny Williams ruined those plans ending Vitali's childhood dream of sharing the ring with Tyson. As a result, Vitali chose to punish Williams rather than take him straight out. The 32-3 British champion was dropped in the 1st, 3rd, 7th and 8th rounds before the fight was ended.

Special Note to Make at This Point


Vitali Klitschko was scheduled to fight former undisputed champion Hasim Rahman on November 12, 2005 at the Thomas & Mack Center. Unfortunately the beloved champion Klitschko began having various physical issues. The fight was postponed four times. Billed as "Seek & Destroy" the fight was ultimately cancelled when Klitschko announced that he was forced into retirement because of back issues.




The boxing public, heartbroken, lamented the retirement of Vitali. All hopes now rested on the younger brother Wladimir Klitschko, who was still viewed as a flawed heavyweight. With men like John Ruiz parading around as champion, the future did not look good.

[HomicideHenry]

38th fight
Much had changed in four years time. Yes, Wladimir was perceived as "the man" now, but the title wasn't unified. Samuel Peter, who nearly defeated Wladimir in 2005, was the reigning WBC champion after beating James Toney (twice), Jameel McCline, and Oleg Masksaev--- and though Vitali was considered something of a favorite, no champion in boxing history EVER had been gone for more than three years without any tune up fights and regained the title. Klitschko did exactly that however in relatively easy fashion stopping Peter after 8 rounds. Klitschko was back and the brothers now held a monopoly on the division.



39th fight
Former Cruiserweight champion Juan Carlos Gomez was the first of nine successful title defenses--- and was stopped in round nine. At the time many "little big men" were bombarding the division making giant heavyweights look foolish, but not on this night.



40th fight
Undefeated Chris Arreola, 27-0, hoped to be the first Mexican-American to be heavyweight champion of the world but it wasn't to be. He was stopped in the 10th round and was never quite the same fighter from that point on.



41st fight
Undefeated Kevin Johnson, 20-0-1, managed to go the 12 round distance with Klitschko but lost by margins of 120-108, 120-108, and 119-109. Johnson would later become the division's gate keeper for men like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.



42nd fight
Albert Snosowski, 45-2-1, for some was thought to be Vitali's greatest threat (thus far) but he was stopped in the 10th round. Snosowski had wins over Danny Williams & Paolo Vidoz. He'd never quite be the same after facing Klitschko going 4-6-1 before retiring in 2017.



43rd fight
Shannon Briggs considered well passed his prime received one of the worst beatings in boxing history. Sure he went the 12 round distance, but he ended up hospitalized for some time afterwards. Briggs retired but returned 4 years later and surprisingly still fighting--- 9 straight wins since facing Vitali Klitschko, albeit against mediocre competition.



44th fight
Odlanier Solis, 17-0, was supposed to be "the next big thing" in boxing having been an incredible amateur champion. In what might be Vitali's best performance in his comeback he knocked out the Cuban in the first round.



45th fight
Tomasz Adamek the former 175 and 195 pound champion was making alot of people believe that he could seriously win the heavyweight title. He previously had beaten six heavyweights, like Andrew Golota & Chris Arreola. He gave a very good showing, but ultimately Klitschko's size and power was too much stopping Adamek in the 10th.



46th fight
British champion Dereck Chisora, 15-2, lasted the whole 12 rounds but like so many others was not quite the same after the fact. Chisora, still a name fighter today, has lost five fights since.



47th fight
Manual Charr, 21-0, would turn out to be the last man Vitali Klitschko would ever fight. The victory came in the 4th round. Klitschko had been hinting for some time that he was considering retirement. He didn't want to stand in Wladimir's way, as he had all the other belts, and quite frankly between the wear and tear of his 40'something body and boredom--- Klitschko wanted to do other things in life. Everyone respected his wishes.

[HomicideHenry]

ORIGINALLY Vitali Klitschko was going to fight David Haye, but, that contest never materialized. Haye would later fight Wladimir Klitschko, announced his retirement, only to come back against Dereck Chisora. Vitali Klitschko claimed that he sent out contracts to Haye following the fight with Wladimir, but Haye allegedly wanted no part of him.



Shown here in the Wladimir/Haye confrontation on HBO's FACE OFF, the Hayemaker mentions the magazine article where he's holding Wladimir Klitschko's head, and the shirt with the Klitschko's presumably dead under Haye's feet holding both brother's heads.





Another contest that never happened was Vitali Klitschko against "The Russian Giant" Nicolai Valuev. The fight, initially, was only seen as interesting because of the height factor--- however in the years to come the Ukraine vs Russia division became more and more apparent, especially when Russia invaded Crimea. The bad blood between the two men only became apparent once they were both retired & involved in national politics. As early as 2007 Vitali wanted the Valuev fight, and all the way through 2010 offers were made.

[HomicideHenry]

Life after boxing for Vitali Klitschko has been a rather interesting experience as he's dabbled in politics becoming the mayor of his hometown of Kiev. However, following his brother's loss to Anthony Joshua he made some rather interesting remarks saying he'd love to come back and fight Joshua once his career as mayor was over with.

It must be noted that Vitali wasn't as "gung ho" on the idea of mounting a comeback after Tyson Fury defeated Wladimir and one must assume it's because of Fury's speed and elusiveness in the ring. Ironically before fighting Wladimir the challenger Fury joked as Vitali watched Tyson's hands getting wrapped that the ex-champion might try to fight him after he beats Wladimir.



And of course Vitali's comments after the fight was over at the post-fight press conference:

[HomicideHenry]

And of course the biggest question of them all, who would win had the Klitschko's fought each other. We can only go by sparring clips, but considering the inactivity of Vitali in the above clip he looks like he never left the sport.



Now the two brothers have always said, "No my brothers the best!", very complimentary of each other, but Wladimir has consistently said that Vitali would win. Whether that's the truth is anyone's guess. Maybe the safest answer is that the only man who could have beaten a prime Wladimir was Vitali, and the only man to have beaten a prime Vitali would have been Wladimir.

[Caractacus]

I remember someone saying that the only person that Joe Louis ever seemed afraid of
was his older half-brother Lonnie Barrow.
later inn life he used to hit up Joe Louis to pay his gambling debts
and if Joe didn't fork out he would get real angry.
so it gotta be some Psychological thing.

[Caractacus]

Hooray for Vitali Klitschko !

[Ambling Alp II]

And of course the biggest question of them all, who would win had the Klitschko's fought each other. We can only go by sparring clips, but considering the inactivity of Vitali in the above clip he looks like he never left the sport.



Now the two brothers have always said, "No my brothers the best!", very complimentary of each other, but Wladimir has consistently said that Vitali would win. Whether that's the truth is anyone's guess. Maybe the safest answer is that the only man who could have beaten a prime Wladimir was Vitali, and the only man to have beaten a prime Vitali would have been Wladimir.

This may be your worst post ever. Scores of fighters could have beaten them.
Ross Purritty, Corrie Sanders, Lamon Brewster, Chris Byrd, and Lennox Lewis did. Yes there are the the lame excuses. Bottom line is that they happened.

[Cojimar 1946]

Wladimir seemed to improve following his early losses and fought more cautiously.

[Ambling Alp II]

He didn't improve. Just didn't fight good competition. Biggest win of his career was Chris Byrd. Byrd was good, but nowhere near great. Vitaly couldn't even beat him. cue the crybaby excuses.

[Caractacus]

And of course the biggest question of them all, who would win had the Klitschko's fought each other.

[overhand_right]

Dicky Ryan, 46-3, was (at the time) billed as being Europe's best chance at winning the world title--- but the truth is Ryan was mainly a manufactured heavyweight with a padded record. There was much animosity between the two men, and Klitschko stopped him in five rounds to win the WBO Intercontinental title.

Literally no one ever billed Dicky Ryan as being "Europe's best chance at winning the world title," not least because Dicky Ryan is from Nebraska; not least because everyone with even a passing interest in heavyweight boxing knows that Dicky Ryan is an American heavyweight because they remember him knocking out Brian Nielsen; not least because at the time of Klitschko/Ryan, Europe's Lennox Lewis actually was the WBC world champion, and Europe's Herbie Hide was the WBO champion.

I just cannot conceive ever getting something so obvious so obviously wrong. It actually seems impossible. I can't even begin to fathom who you could be confusing Ryan with, and how you could confuse Ryan with him. It's simply beyond comprehension. Hey, did you know that Frank Bruno was Mongolia's best chance at winning equestrian gold at Rio 2016?

Here's something factually accurate: you are mentally retarded!

[HomicideHenry]

Humans make gross errors and mistakes. I didn't check on where Ryan came from. However he often fought in Europe so I assumed he was European. My apologies. It will be re-edited. Thanks for your correction, rude as it was.

[Onetimeonly]

Literally no one ever billed Dicky Ryan as being "Europe's best chance at winning the world title," not least because Dicky Ryan is from Nebraska; not least because everyone with even a passing interest in heavyweight boxing knows that Dicky Ryan is an American heavyweight because they remember him knocking out Brian Nielsen; not least because at the time of Klitschko/Ryan, Europe's Lennox Lewis actually was the WBC world champion, and Europe's Herbie Hide was the WBO champion.

I just cannot conceive ever getting something so obvious so obviously wrong. It actually seems impossible. I can't even begin to fathom who you could be confusing Ryan with, and how you could confuse Ryan with him. It's simply beyond comprehension. Hey, did you know that Frank Bruno was Mongolia's best chance at winning equestrian gold at Rio 2016?

Here's something factually accurate: you are mentally retarded!

[Ambling Alp II]

Yet again, homicide skimmed over things and reported something as fact that obviously isn't. Unbelievable. If it was just a case of a silly mistake, not realizing where the guy was from, that wouldn't be that a big of a deal.

But Homicide claims that Ryan was "billed" as a big hope for Europe as if he remembers that or has information that states that. . Obviously he was clearly making that up. And he does it time after time; acting like a big expert on something that he isn't.