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Klitschko hangs up the gloves

Wladmir Klitchsko might be set for some big time action in 2017. (Source: AFP / Patrik Stollarz)
Roar Guru
3rd August, 2017
10

Ukrainian boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko (64-5) has turned his back on a rematch opportunity with England’s heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and announced his retirement.

The pair had an epic encounter at Wembley back in April in front of 90,000 fans, trading knockdowns before the youth of 27-year-old Joshua triumphed over the 41-year-old Klitschko with an 11th round stoppage.

Known as “Dr. Steelhammer”, Klitschko has had an extraordinary career, first emerging on the international stage when he won the super heavyweight gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He turned pro soon after, winning his first world title in 2000. He successfully defended a version of the world heavyweight title 23 times during his twenty-year professional career.

That is second only to the great Joe Louis, who successfully defended his world heavyweight title 25 times between 1937 and 1948.

He and his older brother Vitali (45-2) dominated the heavyweight division like no other siblings have ever done before.

In the alphabet soup world of boxing titles, Vitali defended the WBC belt 11 times between 2004 and 2012, while Wladimir usually held all the other major titles available.

Critics of Wladimir argued that he is dull and boring, both inside and outside the ring, and that he was a dominant champion in an era when the heavyweight division wasn’t strong.

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But he always carried himself professionally and he fought every contender that was out there, with the obvious exception of his older brother.

His ring work proved to be clinically effective. He typically used his boxing skills (especially his jab) to break his opponents down before finishing them off late.

And trash talking wasn’t his go. He is intelligent and articulate. He was also always in good physical shape, unlike many heavyweights.

Notable wins in Wladimir’s professional career were over Chris Byrd (twice) and Alexander Povetkin.

His retirement news was initially made via a statement on his website, which subsequently crashed due to the incredible amount of global traffic it generated.

In part, the statement read:

“I deliberately took a few weeks to make my decision, to make sure I had enough distance from the fight at Wembley Stadium. As an amateur and a professional boxer, I have achieved everything I dreamed of.”

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