The Klitschko Brothers Wladimir and Vitali have been ruling the heavyweight ranks of boxing with an iron fist for quite some time. Since 2004, Vitali as been The WBC Heavyweight Champion while his little brother Wladimir is the reigning WBO, IBO, WBA, and IBF Heavyweight Champion. With Vitali checking in at 6’7″ in height and Wladimir at 6″6″, both men are imposing figures in the ring as they possess reaches that span from Long Island to Des Moines, Iowa. Like any other powerful corporation in the world, The Klitschkos rely on displaying their strengths while exposing their opponents weaknesses.
The Klitschkos win by imposing fear into their opponents that hasn’t been seen in the sport of boxing since the days of “Iron” Mike Tyson. The Klitschkos have also benefited from the heavyweight division being extremely weak in talent. The heavyweight division was once the glamour division of boxing that included the reigns of fighters such as Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and Lennox Lewis. Now middleweights such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao are the main money guys in the sport as they have the ability to draw big crowds in Las Vegas for their fights.
Although The Klitschkos are Ukranian, they would still have drawing power in The United States due to their dominance, but the competition isn’t around in the heavyweight ranks which has caused them to have most of their fights in Europe. Vitali lost to Lewis in 2003 in Los Angeles which was his last lost. After the fight Lewis retired and the division has been run by The Klitschkos.
With those long reaches, The Klitschkos are able to keep opponents at bay. For the most part Klitschko opponents are afraid to get hit by these two imposing figures as it is the equivalent to fighting Ivan Drago minus the steroids. Vitali recently defeated German fighter Manuel Charr on September 8 in Moscow via a 4th-round TKO. Charr wanted to continue, but his face had been worked over heavily by Klitschko which led the referee to stop the bout.
With nothing left to prove in the ring, Vitali is turning his attention towards politics as he running for office in Ukraine. At 36-years of age and 58 wins under his belt, Wladimir has nothing else to prove in the ring as well. Even though the heavyweight division isn’t what it once was in boxing, The Klitschko brothers still have a place in boxing history. You don’t apologize for winning as they have put down the majority of the competition in front of them. They have taken a division that was dominated by Americans and they have made it a European thing as the majority of their fights have taken place in Europe. Like other good heavyweight champions before them, The Klitschkos rule by fear as no one is willing to take that punishment from those powerful jabs. If someone is able to defeat Wladimir or Vitali, I would love to be in attendance.
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