VITALI KLITSCHKO

updated September 27, 2009

Back on the top of the heavyweight division and after defending his title against Juan Carlos Gomez in Stuttgart, Germany, Vitali Klitschko will return to the magnificent Staples Center in Los Angeles to face upcoming U.S. heavyweight headliner Cristobal Arreola. Klitschko holds good memories to the arena, home of the NBA champion L.A. Lakers, in which he became WBC Champion for the first time in 2004 (vs. Corrie Sanders).

After he was forced to retire from the sport of boxing in late 2005 due to a knee injury, WBC "Champion Emeritus" Klitschko made a return to the ring in 2008. Re-energized and in tremendous shape, Klitschko reclaimed the WBC title with a world class performance against "The Nigerian Nightmare" Samuel Peter. The Laureus Sports Academy paid tribute to him with the "Comeback of the Year 2009" award. The victory against Samuel Peter makes Klitschko only the fourth boxer in history, along with Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, to win a heavyweight belt for the third time.

In his time away from the sport, Klitschko remained active with involvement in political, business and charitable endeavors. In March of 2006 he ran for mayor in Kiev elections, but ended up second to Leonid Chernovetskyi. Further, Klitschko is a member of the organization committee for the 2012 European Soccer Championships.

Along with brother Wladimir, Vitali is an ambassador for the UNESCO "Education for Children in Need" program. For instance, Vitali and Wladimir visited the children of the San in Namibia in their roles as UNESCO ambassadors. Both brothers founded "Klitschko Foundation" which helps underprivileged kids, especially HIV prevention and against drugs. In Namibia, the brothers helped to promote the educational opportunities for the children of indigenous San communities. As an ambassador for the Laureus Sport for Good foundation, Vitali actively supports sports programs for youth around the world.

Both Klitschko brothers have actively supported the Orange Revolution (beginning 2004), and have prominent supporters including Boris Becker, Joe Cocker and Franz Beckenbauer. Vitali owns companies such as Klitschko Management Group (Hamburg, GER, with brother Wladimir and longtime friend and manager Bernd Bönte) and K2 Promotions.

Fight Highlights

2009: In his last fight on March 21, in Stuttgart, Germany, Klitschko recorded a ninth-round TKO against Juan Carlos Gomez. Gomez received a cut to the right eye in the fifth round. In the seventh round, Klitschko rocked Gomez with a series of power punches causing Gomez to go down. Another barrage of power punches in the ninth round stunned Gomez and caused the referee to stop the fight.

2008: On Oct. 11, in Berlin, Germany, Klitschko never got to see the ninth round as challenger Samuel Peter never got off his stool following the eighth round. Klitschko dominated from first to eighth round, against a one-paced, one-dimensional Peter, known as "The Nigerian Nightmare." It was like a homecoming for Klitschko, who had been out of the ring for over 1,400 days. The cards read with all three judges having Klitschko winning every round, only one judge giving one round to Peter (80-72, 80-72, 79-73).

2004: Klitschko retained his WBC and RING titles the first time in his last start with an eighth-round TKO over Danny Williams on Dec. 11, in Las Vegas. Klitschko did not only thoroughly dominate the boxer who knocked out Mike Tyson, he annihilated him, while turning what some expected to be a tough test into a virtual walkover.

In a spectacular performance that once again further distanced him from the other heavyweight champions, Klitschko dropped Williams four times - once in the first, third, seventh and eighth round - and was ahead by the scores of 70-59 and 70-60 twice before the referee mercifully halted the massacre at 1:26 of the eighth.

Klitschko won WBC belt with an impressive eighth-round TKO over Corrie Sanders on April 24, 2004, in Los Angeles at Staples Center.

What made Klitschko's performance so extraordinary was that he managed to concentrate and perform so magnificently even though much of his focus beforehand was on the turmoil going on in his native Ukraine where the country was torn apart by an election many believe was fraudulent. "I am a sportsman," Klitschko, who wore an orange sash on his trunks in support of Democratic candidate Viktor Yushchenko, said. "But it was very difficult and painful for me to see what was happening in my country. Everyone wants to change from the old Soviet ways and it is the wish of both my brother and I to go the democratic way. With me being the first Ukrainian to be heavyweight champion, this victory was important not just for me, but for my country."

Wladimir Klitschko spent several days in Ukraine during the protests. Vitali wanted badly to go himself, and had to be talked out of canceling his fight. Nothing could stop Klitschko against Sanders in a bout for the title vacated by Lewis. After a cautious beginning, Klitschko assumed control and was punishing the hard-hitting southpaw when the bout was stopped by the referee at 2:46 of the eighth.

"This was a big relief," said Klitschko, who avenged a loss by his brother, Wladimir, to Sanders. "I feel a lot of weight off my shoulders."