1990s–2010sUkrainianOrthodoxretired
Vitali Klitschko
“Dr. Ironfist”
Record: 45–2 (41 KO)Weight class: HeavyweightBorn: 1971-07-19
Titles & honours
- WBO Heavyweight Champion (1999–2000)
- WBC Heavyweight Champion (2004–2005, 2008–2013)
Biography
Vitali Klitschko, the older brother of Wladimir, was born Belovodsk, USSR in 1971. He won the WBO heavyweight title in 1999, lost it in 2000 due to a shoulder injury during the Chris Byrd fight, won the WBC title in 2004, and held it from 2008 to 2013 — making 11 successful defences in his second reign. Klitschko famously took Lennox Lewis to a sixth-round stoppage in June 2003 in a fight he was winning on all three judges' cards before a cut over his left eye forced a doctor's stoppage. His career KO ratio (91%) is the highest among all multi-time heavyweight world champions. Retired 2013 to enter Ukrainian politics; mayor of Kyiv since 2014.