The names of Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko are inscribed in golden letters in the history of world boxing. They joke that their surname in translation into Russian means "blow". Indeed, “Iron Fist” and “Steel Hammer”, as the fans christened them, know how to hold the blow and sent many of their rivals to knockout.
Childhood and youth
Future athletes were brought up in the family of a military pilot. It was the father who instilled in the boys perseverance and a sense of justice. Vladimir Rodionovich completed his service with the rank of major general and military attache in Germany. He participated in the aftermath of the accident at the Chernobyl station and this was the reason for his early departure. Mother Nadezhda Ulyanovna devoted herself to work at school.
The eldest Vitaliy was born in 1971 in a small Kyrgyz village, the younger Vladimir - five years later in the Kazakh city of Semipalatinsk. Brothers grew up romantics and maximalists. Parents instilled in their children a love of sports, and when the family moved to Ukraine, the boys got the opportunity to practice in good gyms. Volodya immediately singled out boxing for himself, and Vitalik combined it with martial arts. Starting from the junior competition, the brothers showed good results. Their first coach was Vladimir Alekseevich Zolotarev. The mentor patiently and consistently led the guys to successful results. Six years later, Vitaliy became a master of sports, three times became the best in the domestic championship and won the army games. Vladimir won gold for Ukraine at the Atlanta Olympics.
Professional sport
The year 1996 was a turning point for the brothers, they took a new frontier. Their passion for boxing has reached a new professional level. The brothers signed their first contracts and began to be trained by Fritz Sdunek. Athletes' career developed brightly and rapidly. For a long time, American athletes were the leaders in boxing. This stereotype was broken by the elder Klitschko when he became the first world champion from professional Slavs. The result of 26 knockouts in a row graced the Guinness Book of Records in 1999. By 2005, the brothers had many beautiful, memorable victories and titles of boxing associations.
There were some injuries, because of which Vitaly decided to leave the sport for a while, treatment and rehabilitation were necessary. He returned after three seasons and won a new league title. The potential of Vladimir was gradually revealed, almost every year ended with the receipt of a new championship belt.
Klitschko recognized not only the joy of victories, but also the bitterness of defeat. They helped boxers get stronger and make adjustments to the training process. After all, the brothers were no longer just athletes, but the idols of many, with examples of their fights, other guys honed their skills. Vitaly completed his sports biography in 2011, caused by multiple injuries. Vladimir left the sport in 2015. Unaware of defeats for 11 years, he unexpectedly lost the fight to a young British athlete. Such a long success of Ukrainian heavyweight boxers in the world ring can be explained by high skill and dedication.
