Wladimir Klitschko Rowe Interview

Wladimir Klitschko was the 1st in studio guest for Jim Rome who talked about his upcoming fight with Tony Thompson, the state of heavyweight boxing, and criticism of his fighting style by Lennox Lewis.

Klitschko 2012 Conan O' Brien Interview

Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko was recently interviewed by Conan O'Brien promoting the new Klitschko documentary which is being released in 2012(English version).  Here is the video of the interview.  Skip to the 13:55 mark to get the Klitschko interview...

Klitschko Brothers Ringside Interview

This is a new interview video with the Klitschko brothers and heavyweight boxing champions Wladimir and Vitali on Ringside after Wladimir defeated David Haye to claiim the 4th and final belt for the Klitschko family.  Enjoy!

Klitschko Craig Slater Interview

This is a new video interview over a game of pool where Craig Slater discusses Wladimir Klitschko's upcoming title unification bout with David Haye, his thoughts on Wladimir's legacy, Haye not shaking his hand, and much more.

Klitschko Quick Q & A Ahead Of Haye Fight

This is a short video with WBO/IBF/IBO/RING heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko answering some quick questions about his upcoming fight this July 2nd against WBA heavyweight champ David Haye. He talks about what he thinks about Haye accusing him of starting the psychological warfare already, Hayes attitude towards him, about the pictures in the past of Haye showing decapitated heads of him and his brother, and more...

Klitschko and Haye On Ringside

WBO/IBF/IBO/RING heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and WBA heavyweight champ David Haye were recently shown and interviewed on the British show Ringside recently while Wladimir was in London for his 2nd press conference for their championship unification match this July 2nd.  They were supposed to appear together but David opted to stay in another room and watch Wladimir be interviewed and the Haye was interviewed afterwords. 

Klitschko Haye Ringside Video

Wladimir Klitschko On CNN

WBO, IBF, IBO, and Ring heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko recently was interviewed on CNN out of New York ahead of his upcoming fight with WBA champion David Haye this July 2nd.  He talks about the belt unification and looking forward to the fight.

Klitschko Chisora 1st Meeting

This is video footage after the Klitschko vs Briggs championship fight Saturday night where Wladimir Klitschko and Dereck Chisora meet for the 1st time after the fight and discuss their match up coming up this December 11th in at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany.

Klitschko Calls Haye A Little Dog

After Saturday nights fight, Wladimir Klitschko was interviewed and said that David Haye is a little dog who is running away and that he doesn't care about Haye just the belt he has.  Here is a video of the interview:

Wladimir Klitschko On The Ropes Interview

This is a new interview of WBO, IBF, IBO, and Ring heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko on the "On The Ropes" internet radio show where he discusses his 1st fight with Samuel Peter and how that was a turning point in his career, his current training in preparation for his rematch with Samuel Peter, Alexander Povetkin dropping out of his fight  which was replaced by Peter, the current division and challenges compared to previous eras, his experience on the set of Ocean's Eleven with Lennox Lewis, the contract dispute with Haye, the ESPN coverage of his fight with Peter, how he will defeat Peter as soon as possible and dominate him, and much more!

Here is the full radio show below including interviews with Wladimir Klitschko and Marco Huck.  The total radio broadcast is 2 hours and 1 minutes and to if you want to skip to the Wladimir Klitschko interview section fast forward to the 61 minute and 10 second mark.  His interview continues to the 130 minute 13 second mark, and further discussion goes on about Wladimir after this until the 137 minute 14 second mark.  Enjoy!

Listen to internet radio with On The Ropes on Blog Talk Radio

Klitschko On The Ropes Interview Transcript

JENNA J: Anyway guys, it’s time for our second guest of this week’s show. He is currently the reigning, defending Ring Magazine heavyweight champion of the world. We have Wladimir Klitschko. How’s everything going today, Wlad?

WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO: Thank you. I’m doing just fine. How are you guys?

JENNA: I’m doing great. We’re definitely happy to be talking to you today, and I just wanted to ask you how your training has been going for your September 11 bout with Samuel ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Peter?

KLITSCHKO: The training is going very well as usual. So I just have another opponent and I have to adjust myself to this opponent with a strategy and tactic. Once in awhile, in the beginning, I had like kind of nightmares and they had like a little bit of a Nigerian taste in it, but after the first couple of weeks it got back to normal. So I’m sleeping well and recovering after workouts, so I’m looking forward to this September 11 fight.

JENNA: Well the fight you have here is a rematch from a bout that took place almost five years ago. What do you think has changed in you as a fighter since your first fight with Samuel Peter?

KLITSCHKO: Well it’s called a rematch. It’s more maybe probably on Samuel Peter’s side a rematch. Samuel Peter is the number one contender and I have to defend my _title_. I did fight him five years ago and I believe Sam said that he didn’t really lose that fight because the referee didn’t give him a chance to win this fight or something like that. I just heard it on his interview on-line, and that’s actually pretty interesting to hear. But I feel great about this fight and I’m looking forward to the challenge in this fight, because Samuel Peter was one of the toughest opponents that I had. I think that the fight five years ago was a really, really tough fight for me.

Anyway, I won this fight and I believe that Samuel Peter got better than he was two years ago when Sam was fighting Vitali. Now he’s got a new team, he’s got a new coach, he’s got a new promoter, and he won his last four fights by knockout, so his confidence is building up. He lost a lot of weight so that means his speed picked up and he’s still taking a good punch. I never fought a guy that could take so much punishment, so many punches, and didn’t go down. So Sam is a really, really tough opponent and I’m seriously preparing for this fight. I know that I will have a challenge in the ring on September 11 and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

JENNA: Alright now in the first bout, you were knocked down three times. Some of the knockdowns were debatable as they were behind the head, but a lot of people consider that bout with Samuel Peter as a turning point in your career. Obviously you had the two previous losses to Brewster and Corrie Sanders, but this fight here was the one where you overcame the adversity. I’m just wondering, how do you feel about that bout and do you think that really was the turning point in your career?

KLITSCHKO: The first Samuel Peter fight was very important to me, because Sam was undefeated. He was actually basically after each fight screaming, “Who Next?” and I was “who next”. His manager, Ivaylo Gotzev, described me, “Wladimir Klitschko is a dead man walking”. So I was a dead man walking in their eyes and I actually, to be honest with you, everyone was nervous also around me. Can I make it? Sam is a very dangerous opponent. He is a very dangerous opponent, but I never lost belief in myself and I knew Sam actually from the past as he was my sparring partner before the Charles Shufford fight when I was training in Las Vegas. I remember he came one day, he got a bloody nose, and he never came back to the camp. But I think he did a good job also as my sparring partner.

Later on, he did an even better job in the ring and he gave me such a good challenge. At that time, after two losses in one year against Sanders and Brewster, that was important to have such a tough opponent, an undefeated opponent like Samuel Peter. That fight was at that time for the North American championship and that was for the number one position in two world ratings. So I wanted to get back. I wanted to become a champion again, and I was very motivated for this fight considering we knew how tough Samuel Peter is, and he was incredibly tough. As I said, of those I’ve faced, he was probably one of the toughest opponents in my career.

JENNA: Well Wladimir, besides myself, we’re also on the line with my Co-Host Geoff.

GEOFFREY CIANI: Hi Wladimir. It’s a pleasure to have you back on the show.

KLITSCHKO: Hi Geoff.

CIANI: Wladimir, I’m curious, originally you were slated to defend your _title_s against Alexander Povetkin. Were you at all surprised that Alexander Povetkin dropped out of this fight?

KLITSCHKO: To be honest with you, I wasn’t. My gut feeling just told me and I said to Emanuel, Emanuel Steward my coach, I said, “Emanuel, I won’t be very surprised if Povetkin doesn’t go through with this fight” and Emanuel had pretty much the same feeling. He had a chance a few years ago when he was paid a purse of $3.2 million to have a fight with me, but unfortunately he got injured right before while he was running in the forest. Two years later, he got the number one position. He was supposed to fight me. He came to my promotional company. He was going to make over $2 million so there was enough money to fight for him and his promoters as well. I just basically have no emotions about it.

I’m a little bit surprised that the guy fought his way up the ratings to become the number one contender then he is getting his biggest pay day. He’s Olympic champion, he’s 30 years old, and I think there’s time to be mature enough and not just listening to his trainer or promoter or manager, “You’re not ready for the fight, you need a little bit more time”, and then to get to this nonsense with fights in between, which is actually against the rules. As official contender, you couldn’t make some fights that are kind of made on the sly. I guess Bruce Seldon he was fighting. So I was very surprised to get to know all these facts and to get to know later on that his trainer said, “You’re not ready yet”.

I was actually very surprised. How much does the guy want to wait until he’s going to get ready? He actually was dropped in the ratings right now and I don’t know how many years he’s going to need to fight his way back. But anyway, I think it’s time to get mature for Alexander Povetkin. He’s an Olympic champion, he’s undefeated, he was twice already my number one contender for the _title_, and he twice didn’t accomplish to get to the ring, but I just wish him the best of luck with whatever he plans and wants to do in boxing or outside of boxing. But it’s not an issue for me right now.

I’m glad that Samuel Peter stepped in. He showed up several weeks before the fight at the press conference. That shows that Samuel Peter is not considering any contract issues as Povetkin’s promoter was concerned about, or anything like that. There never were issues with any contracts, that was just an excuse from Povetkin’s promoter. But Sam just stepped in because he’s confident, he wants to become champion, and I respect him for it. It’s a very short period of time to make this final call and decision. I definitely give respect to Samuel Peter for it, so Povetkin is not an issue to me at all. I am surprised, but it’s over now.

CIANI: Wladimir, one of the biggest criticisms that the media accuses you of really isn’t your fault. It deals with the fact that the heavyweight division isn’t filled with a lot of great talent right now. I’m wondering, are you at all disappointed that there isn’t a great challenge out there for you, someone like a Lennox Lewis caliber fighter in today’s division?

KLITSCHKO: Well, I would say probably it’s not the time when Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Ken Norton, and a lot of other fighters were around at the same time, and Liston, and Joe Frazier. So there was a lot of excitement, a lot of big names. That’s what we don’t have right now in the heavyweight division. I want to correct you a little bit. The challenge is there. I fought Eddie Chambers, and Eddie Chambers was, he’s probably going to beat any other heavyweight with his speed and his ability to move and he was perfectly motivated for this fight. He fought his best fight in his career with me.

The challenge is there, and the challengers and fighters are there. It’s just a question, will you get a chance to them to proceed to get through with their strategy or not. So that’s my goal as a champion, to keep the _title_s in my hand as long as I’m in the ring and as long as I’m motivated. I just realized Geoff, actually later in my career, that boxing is a chess game. I realized and understood it later on, and as far as the fight, it’s a lot of strategy, it’s a lot of technique, and you actually can eliminate the opponent pretty good and eventually you break him mentally and physically down the road during the fight. It is a challenge that brings me a lot of fun, to get in the ring, and preparations first of all, and then exactly what we plan in the preparations we accomplish it in the ring. I say “we”, Emanuel Steward and I. This work just gives us so much satisfaction and the challenge is definitely there. I just want to tell you. Good opponents are there. They don’t have good names. That’s the problem.

But we have British champion David Haye, who holds the WBA _title_, and then we have Tomasz Adamek who’s coming up. I spoke to Emanuel about it and he said, “Wladimir, we just have to stick to the strategy, keep winning, walk through these guys, and all the big fights are going to happen.” It was always in boxing like that. Joe Louis had it in his time until he surprisingly lost to Max Schmelling and then suddenly everyone paid attention to the rematch and what was going on. Actually, Mike Tyson had certain criticisms with the same issues, but he was spectacular with his way of fighting and his knockouts. Even Emanuel said with Lennox, his fight against Mike Tyson was really the highlight of his career. Of course he had Holyfield in between, but I think the highlight of Lennox Lewis’ career was at the end of his career in the fight against Mike Tyson.

So the strategy is simple. You have to do keep doing your job as good as you can, and big fights are coming, and good names are coming, and so on, and so on, and so on, and recognition and everything else. So that’s the side effect of this success, yes.

CIANI: Now you mentioned Mike Tyson being Lennox Lewis’ best fight late in his career, and one of the things I always wanted to ask you was, you had some experiences with Lennox on a film set in the movie Ocean’s Eleven and I’m wondering if you could tell the fans a little bit about what those experiences were like?

KLITSCHKO: That was an amazing experience and I remember I got this proposal from Warner Brothers to be in the movie and play actually myself and fighting Lennox Lewis in this movie. Actually, the premiere of the movie was in December 2001, and there was supposed to be a fight between Lennox Lewis and me because I was WBO champion and Lennox was champion for another version. So that was the basic idea, and I said “Of course”. Then I flew over to Las Vegas and we spent two weeks in Vegas and it was an amazing experience with all of these movie stars from Ocean’s Eleven.

We had such a great time. It was also an experience to just play around with Lennox Lewis in the ring, because we have to probably make twenty takes of this sequence, and another. We’d be kind of boxing with Lennox, but it was even to me very exciting. Like okay, how does he move, what he does. So he was looking up to me to see what I do, I was looking up to him to see what he does. There was a good exchange of information on how we were going to fight each other later on if the fight was going to happen.

I remember he was preparing for this fight against Rahman, the first fight against Rahman that he lost in South Africa. That was such a difficult time for Lennox because he was in Las Vegas shooting a movie and he was preparing for the fight against Rahman. So he flew over to South Africa I guess like the week before. So he was shooting a movie and preparing for the fight. It was a very difficult combination, and I remember Lennox, he took Rahman at that time very easy. Also on the movie set he was talking about, saying he was going to hang his gloves from a nail if he won’t make it, or something like that because this guy was going to roll over. He was very confident. I could tell even at that time he was overconfident probably, and that’s eventually what cost him the fight. He was too relaxed, and that’s what can happen in the heavyweight division. If you’re too relaxed for just one moment, then BOOM—you have a new heavyweight champion.

Now it’s in history and it was a tremendous and amazing experience to be on the set with all the movie stars from Ocean’s Eleven and also to kind of shadow box or kind of sparring with Lennox. That was fun.

JENNA: Now Wladimir, originally you were trying to make a fight with somebody other than Sam Peter and other than Alexander Povetkin, and that was with David Haye. Now I was just wondering if you could clear it up for the boxing fans out there. What exactly went on in those negotiations, and if there was in fact a 50-50 deal in place for you to fight David Haye and he rejected it?

KLITSCHKO: That was exactly it. In April this year when I officially called out David Haye through the social network YouTube, I just wanted to make it as direct as possible that it’s not my manager talking about it, it’s not my lawyer talking about it, or it’s not a journalist writing down what I said. So I spoke out directly to the boxing fans and to David Haye. Just let’s make it. The deal, it doesn’t matter. 50-50, I agree with that. Just let’s make it. Let’s do it. I was open because the money is not an issue at a certain stage of my career. The challenge and the excitement about the sport, that’s an issue, and we have a huge fan _base_ for this sport and I just want it so that we have one heavyweight champion who unifies all the _title_s and all the belts. David, let’s make it!

Instead, I never heard anything back and it really just makes me feel upset with the excuses with the contracts, that actually he already signed before when he was supposed to fight me and then, exactly what I am saying right now, bitched out two weeks before. It makes me really upset about it. I generally see David Haye as a good promoter. He promoted himself very good to get into the top ten and to get his name out there, but at a certain time you overdo it. You get people and fans excited about the fight, and then you’re backing out. This is just disrespectful, not only to me, but it is disrespectful to the sport and to the fans of the sport.

David Haye is nothing but the dog that barks, and as you know barking dogs don’t bite. So for right now, David Haye to me is nothing but just a name in the air and nothing else. So there is no action and no following through. I am excited about the Samuel Peter fight and that’s going to be huge and exciting and a great challenge in the ring. It’s going to be really, really good. I’m very, very excited also about the fact that fans in the United States will get a chance to see the championship of the world on free network that is ESPN. They will see it live and they will see it on tape delay on the next day, and that’s great. It’s going to be covered pretty good in the US and that really makes me happy.

JENNA: Speaking of American boxing fans and going back to David Haye for a second, a lot of people seem to be criticizing Haye for not taking a fight with you and some are now even questioning him as a champion. What do you think of David Haye not pursuing the toughest challenges at heavyweight?

KLITSCHKO: You know even my own opinion, I’m a boxing fan as well, and the thing with fans around the world—they’re not that stupid. They see things pretty clearly, and this fight against Audley Harrison if it’s going to happen, it’s actually a London championship fight. It’s just a local fight that’s probably going to make good pay per views in England, but basically for the sport, it doesn’t really mean anything. I just feel at the same time, I feel worried about David Haye because there is also the potential that this guy is going to get knocked out. Then such a fight between one of the Klitschko brothers and David Haye won’t happen. So the whole thing is going to go away, but it doesn’t matter. The _title_ and who holds the _title_, that’s secondary. So the _title_ belt is out there, and we hope that with David Haye, sometime down the road, the Klitschko brothers will get his _title_ in the family.

CIANI: Wladimir, when David Haye turned down this 50-50 deal, I asked Tomasz Adamek about that and he laughed about it and said, “Well I propose that he offers me 50-50 and I’ll sign the deal tomorrow”. I was just wondering two things. One, what do you thought of Tomasz Adamek’s move into the heavyweight division and the success he’s had there so far, and two, whether you might be interested in fighting him someday after the Samuel Peter fight if David Haye never comes around?

KLITSCHKO: I think this is great that former cruiserweights are moving up to the heavyweight division and they’re having success as Tomasz Adamek has. I think it’s great. It’s bringing more excitement in the heavyweight division. It gives some names out there and I think about it very positively and I wish Tomasz Adamek luck in his next fight. Down the road, as a champion you have to defend the _title_s. At a certain time I think he’s going to be or he’s already number one with the WBO version where I’m a champion, so that means Tomasz Adamek has to fight a champion and I have to fight him to defend my WBO _title_. So this fight’s going to come up and to be honest with you, this is all about the future that we’re talking about now. I’m just about two weeks from my fight against Samuel Peter and that’s going to be the greatest challenge that I have, and I’m looking so forward to it. I’m very excited about that fight more than anything else. So the September 11 fight, that to me is still the most important fight to have and be focused on.

JENNA: Well Wladimir, we have just a couple of more questions before we let you go, and I wanted to get your opinion on your brother’s upcoming fight against American Shannon Briggs on October 16. How do you see that fight going down?

KLITSCHKO: I think that Shannon Briggs has amazing punching power. He has very fast hands. That right now he’s fighting Vitali, I think Vitali will get a really, really tough challenge in the ring. I believe this fight will bring a lot of attention worldwide, because Shannon Briggs is a well known boxer that was fighting George Foreman, and Lennox Lewis, and he was champion as well, and WBO champion. So I believe this fight. Vitali’s not another short guy and Shannon is also a big guy so they’re pretty much going to be at the same eye level for the fight. I think it’s going to be a very exciting fight especially for the boxing fans. Don’t forget it, I am a boxing fan. So I’m talking as a fan from the outside, and I think it’s something challenging in the ring and I think it’s going to be really, really exciting and interesting to watch.

JENNA: Back to your fight with Samuel Peter, what do you consider to be the most important thing that you have to do to be victorious on September 11?

KLITSCHKO: As I have usually done, defend my _title_s. It’s actually not about the _title_s. I’ve repeated in this interview a lot, this word “challenge”. That’s my motivation. I love a challenge, and I told it to Sam, “Sam, I’m looking forward to when we have the stare down, I’m looking forward to this fight and to this challenge.” It’s going to be great. So I’m looking forward to it. I know exactly what to do and it’s only two weeks to wait. So you guys just enjoy the fight. It’s going to be broadcast in the US live and tape delayed the next day on ESPN, on the regular ESPN. So just enjoy this fight, especially since you can see, and we can see, Samuel Peter five years ago and Klitschko five years ago, so with this fight we’ll know who got better. That’s going to be a good comparison.

JENNA: What is your official prediction in the rematch against Samuel Peter?

KLITSCHKO: My official prediction, I will win this fight as soon as possible and I will dominate Samuel Peter like I never did.

JENNA: Alright, and finally, is there anything you want to say to your fans out there and all the listeners of On the Ropes Boxing Radio?

KLITSCHKO: I want to say thank you for following all of the boxing fights, and in particular the fights with Klitschko brothers. Thank you very much for being with us and being supportive. Even to the fans that don’t like Klitschkos. I appreciate you for it, too, because that’s the controversy that we need actually. You have followers and you have haters, but that’s what it means when you’re champion. You have both sides. So I want to say to the fans that are for Klitschkos or against Klitschkos, thank you very much for all of your interest in the sport and we will do our best inside of the ring so that the excitement will never disappear, so good luck to you and all the best.

JENNA: Well it’s been fantastic interviewing you again, Wlad. We wish you the best of luck against Samuel Peter on September 11, and we just hope all the fans tune in on ESPN 3 and check you out on your way to victory.

KLITSCHKO: Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

CIANI: Thank you, Wladimir. Good luck.

KLITSCHKO: Bye bye. Thank you. All the best.

Wladimir Klitschko Fanhouse Boxing Interview

Here's a interview I personally missed from Fanhouse Boxing back in April where Wladimir talks about his past, and future fights, fighting his brother, and how much he despises David Haye.


FanHouse: Why did you choose to make this video calling out David Haye?

Wladimir Klitschko: Because this is the only fight that I want. You can read an article, but I wanted to make it personally, so that the boxing fans could actually see that I want to make this fight. We can make this fight. We've been chasing David Haye around and calling him out. But he has been bitching out on a fight against us.

But now, he can make the fight. I can make the fight. There are rules within the IBF that allows me, as the champion, if I'm going to fight a championship unification, to move the mandatory aside. I have time, and I want to show the world and the boxing fans. It's enough. Now, David Haye can make the fight as well. He knows about it, and we need to make the fight.

I will not be risking losing any title. I just made my mandatory defense of the WBO title against Eddie Chambers. The next mandatory defense is supposed to be against Alexander Povetkin, and I will do it if David Haye decides not to fight me. But I know that the IBF or any other organization will move to take the fight with David Haye if there is going to be a unification fight.

David Haye is the only title that the Klitschko brothers do not have. We have the IBF, we have the IBO, we have the WBO, we have the WBC, and The Ring Magazine championship. But we don't have the WBA. That's the only title we don't have. That's why want the unification.

I doubt that since I've been champion for such a long time that any of the organizations would stop me from making a championship unification against a David Haye.




FH: Has any other fighter every angered you as much as David Haye has?

Klitschko: Never, never, ever. I can't stand this guy. The way that he presents himself in the public, and the way that he presented my brother and myself with our heads cut off. The way that he represents the sport, I don't really like it for the public.

When he's presenting himself with our heads cut off, I can't take it, I can't stand it and I want to fight this guy. It's personal. I think that David Haye deserves to get his punishment from a real champion, and that's why I'm really pushing for it right now.


FH: Has K-2 Promotions made any attempts to contact Sauerland Promotions on behalf of David Haye to make this go forward?

Klitschko: We are in negotiations, and it's pretty complicated, because Golden Boy Promotions is involved in a certain way with David Haye, and Sauerland is involved. David has an option to fight a rematch with Nikolay Valuev, but now, probably, he will not. So, he can make it, and we are in negotiations.

But I wanted the public to know that I did not pull out of the fight last year in June. I did everything to make this fight happen, and it was David Haye who pulled out. Then, Vitali was supposed to fight him, and he bailed out again. And then, he talks so much bad things '-- that he wanted to do this and he wanted to do that.

But action speaks louder than words, and he never came forward. So it's been all talk. That's why I'm looking forward to getting him into the ring, why I want to show the public that I'm ready for him. I don't know what he's ready for. I always say that my best fight is in front of me and never in the past.

I'm always looking for my most difficult fight and expecting it in every fight, but of course, this fight with David Haye would be really exciting, because I'll get challenged. My performance is as good as the challenge. But an angry Wladimir Klitschko could be the best one.


FH: In which country would a Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye fight take place?

Klitschko: The Haye fight would be such an exciting, extraordinary fight because he's such an extraordinary talker. So he talks and promotes himself very good. So I think that this fight would be very interesting for American boxing fans and the fans around the world.

Where is the fight going to be staged? That depends on the broadcaster -- HBO or Showtime -- what they want to do. Either it's going to be a pay per view fight, or there's going to be another case to make the fight happen. We just have to have interest from American television. That's No. 1.

And then, you'd have to see which arena could make it happen. It could be in any country. Right now, it's important to make the deal with David Haye. It's not just about the money, it's about the last belt that the Klitschkos don't have, and we have a personal issue with David Haye, and that's why I want this fight so badly. I'm really pushing it and looking forward to it.


FH: How do you explain how you have gone from being knocked out by Ross Puritty, Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster, to winning 12 straight fights, nine of them by knockouts, with eight wins over Americans over six years?

Klitschko: I definitely feel that I thought that, like, three years ago, that that was my peak. But I keep peaking, and peaking, and peaking and I just love the sport. And I understand that I'm a professional, and I believe that I understand more about what it is to be a true athlete and a professional boxer.

I prepare for my fights so well, that my opponents actually have no chance to compete with me. I'm actually as good as my challenger is in the ring. If my challenger is not that good, then I get critiqued or criticized for kind of being boring. But let's face it, out of the 53 wins that I have, 48 of them, I've ended up with a TKO or a KO. So 48 fighters didn't make it.

I definitely can punch in the earlier rounds or the late rounds with both hands -- the right hand or the left hand. I just feel so confident so comfortable about me being in the ring, like I never ever have.


FH: How do you feel about your last performance against Eddie Chambers?

Klitschko: Eddie Chambers was just such an experienced fighter. He had around 35 fights, and he has beaten Samuel Peter and Calvin Brock, and this guy and that guy. He had beaten an unbeaten fighter, a Ukrainian, Alexander Dimitrenko, who is even taller than I am. And he did it in such an impressive way.

I think that Eddie was really, really good, and that he was very, very fast. But after the fourth or fifth round, his strategy completely collapsed, and he just lost confidence. And then, instead of trying to win the fight, he was doing the same thing that Sultan Ibragimov did against me in Madison Square Garden in New York.

He was just trying not to get punched and not get knocked out in a very defensive way. And when you have one fighter being offensive, and the other, defensive, it's very difficult to make a competitive fight, and an exciting fight. Also, one week before my fight, we saw the Manny Pacquiao fight against Joshua Clottey.

It was the same situation. Pacquiao was so dominant, but his opponent didn't give him a chance. Pacquiao couldn't finish the fight earlier. When one of the fighters is really defensive and doesn't want to fight, then you can chase him forever. So I was chasing Eddie Chambers for the last round, and [trainer] Emmanuel [Steward] was pushing me, like, 'Come on, do it.!'

And I was trying. I got even upset myself, and I was like, 'Manny, relax, I'm trying.' But, Eddie was awkward and was really fast and crazy awkward with his upper body the way he ducks from the punches and stuff like that. It wasn't that easily, but, eventually, one punch, and that was it.

But I felt really confident in that fight. I knew that he couldn't really reach me, and that he couldn't really touch me. I knew that I as winning every round. I was putting myself under pressure.



FH: What's your assessment of the American heavyweight?

Klitschko: In the U.S., people talk like the heavyweight division is dead. In Europe, we're saying the heavyweight division is alive. In two days, we have sell outs of over 60,000 people attending fights in soccer stadiums. We have ratings of 14 million people in Germany watching the fight. It doesn't matter which one of the Klitschko brothers are fighting, people are getting excited.

And we're very excited and thankful for that. In the U.S., we need the broadcasters, HBO, to broadcast the fight. Last fight, with Chambers, I was very upset that HBO didn't broadcast, because you have to give credit to the best American challenger, Eddie Chambers. He's American, and he flew overseas and he was fighting the heavyweight championship of the world.

To not show it, you're kind of disrespectful to the sport, and, ultimately, disrespectful to Eddie Chambers. Emmanuel keeps telling me, 'Wladimir, you just have to keep winning the fights, keep winning the fights, and those big fights are coming up.'

He says, 'It was the same situation with Mike Tyson, it was the same situation, with Lennox Lewis, it was the same situation with Evander Holyfield, same thing with Joe Louis.' You have to just stay focused and stay active, and the big fights in the U.S. with American contenders will come up, and it will be exciting again.

I trust Manny, and I think that he's right. I just have to keep winning, and that's what I'm doing.


FH: Finally, would you fight your brother under any circumstances?

Klitschko: There's always an exception to every rule. If the world was going to go down, and our fight could save the world, probably, we're going to make the fight.

---

I hope this fight happens soon between Haye and Klitschko. This was back in April and here we are almost the middle of June and Haye is still SILENT...

Wladimir Klitschko Impressed With Sosnowski's Physique

During today's weigh in ahead of tomorrows WBC heavyweight championship fight between current champ Vitali Klitschko and Albert Sosnowski, Vitali's brother Wladimir Klitschko had a few words to say about how he is impressed with Sosnowski's physique to the press. Here's the video footage:

How Wladimir Klitschko Pranked Borat

Wladimir Klitschko recently told on camera how he played a prank on Sacha Baron Cohen the British comedian and actor who is known for his character Borat who from the country of Kazakhstan, which is where Wladimir Klitschko was born.

So here's the video where Wladimir talks about how he punk'd Borat...

Sportsvibe Wladimir Klitschko Interview

Sportsvibe recently interviewed the WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko where he talks about all kinds of things like kite surfing, his acting parts in movies, his home country of Ukraine, traveling, his brother and him being champions, and his next opponent Eddie Chambers. Enjoy the video!

Tags: Wladimir Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko Interview, Wladimir Klitschko Videos, Klitschko Blog, klitschkoblog.com

Klitschko Radio Interview Transcript

This is the transcript of the radio interview I last posted of Wladimir Klitschko on Blog Talk Radio program "On the Ropes" that was aired on August 24th, 2009. Enjoy!

Jenna J: Alright! Wladimir Klitschko welcome to the On the Ropes radio show. I’m the host Jenna J with my co-host Rummy, how is it going today?

Wladimir Klitschko: Thank you. Everything is going very well. I can’t complain I just finished my golf game and I had a great, great, great golf day.

JJ: Well we’re very happy that you took time out to join us for this interview today. And first of all I would like to congratulate you for becoming the Ring Magazine Heavyweight Champion with your win over Ruslan Chagaev.

WK: Thank you very much. I was looking forward to get this belt and I believe that’s right round about three to four years I have been waiting to get this belt. And now fortunately I have got it. It was actually accidentally because I was supposed to fight David Haye and then two weeks before the fight my opponent was switched so I got the chance to fight #3 of Ring Magazine rating list so that’s why and that’s how I got the belt. Which makes me feel happy..

JJ: Great. Now you said that it took you know three to four years to get this recognition, how does it feel now that you’re recognized as the best heavyweight in the world?

WK: It feels awesome. (laughs) But I understand that that I have responsibilities to keep it as long as I’m active as an athlete and it’s certain pressure of course. I understand that lot of guys are looking up to fight with me and of course to win these fights with me. And it’s certain pressure and I just have to defend this title, which I’m going to do as long as I’m fighting and I really enjoy it. I think that with every heavyweight champion of the world you have abilities and chances to move a lot of things in this world and put attention to lot of problems in this world. I’m talking now about charity part and I think that’s important we did a lot and did move certain things in this area and many things are coming up.

JJ: Great, great. I’m going to go across to my co-host, Rummy.

Geoffrey Ciani (aka-Rummy): Hi Wladimir. Now I just wanted to ask you under the tutelage of Emmanuel Steward you have improved noticeably inside the ring, but in your first fight with him, you actually lost a fight against Lamon Brewster. What are some of the things that Emmanuel has been able to teach you since that point in time where it’s obvious, from a fan’s perspective, that you have become much better and more effective inside the ring.

WK: We were talking with Emmanuel about Brewster fight a lot and we have been watching this fight over, over, and over and everything that went down in this fight was perfect—believe it or not. The whole strategy and tactic came through and I did whatever I wanted to do with Brewster for five rounds—actually for first four rounds and then the rest is history. So I lost this fight. And I just wanted to tell that the fight was perfect. I did everything that I had to do. I didn’t get good result and that was really a bad beginning to work together with the Emmanuel Steward. I started to work with him and we lost the fight.

I would say “we” because not only just myself in the ring, but it is also teamwork and that’s why I say “we” lost it, but we took a lot of my own abilities and just try to use my natural abilities. It is also punching power, but it is also abilities to be able to move on my feet and the speed, which also I do have. As Emmanuel Stewart says, “speed kills”, and I truly believe it. In this sport if you’re fighting against the guy who is really slow that’s not good for the fighter because he will have no chance with the guy who is faster. And I think that the work, which we do with Emanuel Steward, is very creative work. We create things and we practice a lot of them during the preparation and then we’re accomplishing it in the ring, so we do actually in the ring everything what we were preparing before and it works amazingly good. It’s not like chaotic and like I’m going to the ring and I’m trying to win this fight—it’s not like that. The attitude is different. I’m going in the ring and know exactly what to do because we have been studying our opponent on video for many days while we are in training camp and it’s actually very easy to fight them. When you know what you have to do, it’s really, really easy.

JJ: Great. Wladimir, some people consider this era of heavyweight division to be a weaker one. Now what I want to ask you is who do you see in the heavyweight division that you think will give you your biggest challenge?

WK: I was in Montenegro and I met a fan—a Klitschko fan—and he said, “Yeah now in the heavyweight division we have recession, we have crisis. And the name of the crisis, guess what—Klitschko brothers”. I felt that was funny because you can see it as really crisis or you can see it you know that we’re really dominating the division and that’s actually the opinion in United States that heavyweight division is down and has difficulties and nobody is really excited about it. But in another part of the world, for example in Europe, we have lot of competition and we have the last two Klitschko fights we had 11.5 million viewers out of 85-86 million people who are living in Germany and that’s only Germany, actually. So the ratings are amazing. We filled out arenas, which were completely sold. We filled out the stadium, the last event was in the stadium with 61,000 people, and it wasn’t just guests and we didn’t you know give tickets so there was tickets which were bought by people going to fight. We actually don’t feel nothing about bad times in the heavyweight division here in Europe, but of course, I understand that in US we don’t have really American stars who perform well, who look good kind of just not said look good but exciting. I wish there is going to be lot of competition in the heavyweight division also with these American heavyweights fighters. To give an example, my brother Vitali is going to fight Los Angeles at the Staples Center with Chris Arreola who is American fighter undefeated. He won most of his fights by knockout and there is going to be heavyweight championship world for double WBC belt. So I think that this fight will create an excitement also in the heavyweight division in United States because not only is one of the Klitschko brothers going to fight, but also an undefeated heavyweight American fighter. I think that’s going to be very, very, very, great. I mean a great big fight for the sport and especially for the heavy division.

JJ: Now Wlad, to follow-up on that, there has been a lot talk about you possibly fighting American Eddie Chambers. Is that going to be your next fight or do you not quite know yet?

WK: It’s possibly going to be like that, that I’m going to fight against Chambers who is also a very experienced fighter and it is going to be for all the belts. So December, December this year the fight will happen. I don’t know exactly where it is going to be, but it is going to be a big fight, of course.

JJ: Great.

WK: I don’t know the site I don’t know the place where it is going to be not yet.

GC: Now Wladimir, your fight with Sam Peter in many ways was a crossroad fight for you in which you showed tremendous heart inside the ring rising three times from the canvas, and, except for those couple of knockdowns, you dominated the action. I had actually heard—I don’t know if it is true—that had you lost that fight you were considering retiring, but you obviously came out triumphant you have come out a much better and more confident fighter since then. Can you tell us a little bit about that fight and whether there was any truth to that at that time?

WK: After losing to Brewster and the split decision win with Williamson I needed to regroup and prove myself. So there was a rising star Samuel Peter. My sparring partner, who I fought against was Charles Shufford defending my WBO belt. So I had him as a sparring partner and I exactly remembered that he came to the gym and sparred so it wasn’t really difficult for me to spar with him. Anyway he was familiar to me and I was looking forward to it to get this fight, because that was for number one place in IBF and I guess that was the other version either WBA or WBC. So that was for number one contender and to become a number one contender in this version and I remember that especially in this fight, actually the attitude was wrong for my opponent and his crew. I mean his managers and friends because they were considering me as dead man walking, which was great for me because I knew that I can beat this guy. And in the fight directly I should tell that Samuel Peter was really giving everything. His motivation was unbelievable. He was pumped up with energy and self confidence because he hasn’t lost anything and he just thought that he is going to roll over younger brothers and I believe that this attitude actually made him lose this fight. And I should tell as many punches as he got and didn’t get down also in the 12th round when I hit him with left hook and shook him, I felt I broke my hand so hard it was, and I just saw him that he was just about to go down, but he was wobbling, but he kept standing and you know, he didn’t go down—I was really surprised. Anyway, he took a lot of punishments and he also caught me a couple of times. The fight was leaded to me, but my confidence was way, way too much for Samuel Peter who was probably underestimating me. That’s the mistake which lot of fighters do actually underestimate and then they unfortunately are going to lose this fight, when they underestimate me.

JJ: Great. Wladimir, briefly you mentioned your brother and the question that I have for you is you said in the past that you sparred your own brother, and seeing as everyone is always ask what would happen if you two would were to meet in the ring, could you tell us what those sparring sessions were like?

WK: We have been together for the last thirty three years and we’re supportive all the time for each other and with each other. And because we’re supportive—you didn’t ask this question, but (laughs)—we will never fight each other because doesn’t make any sense. Vitali always showed me certain things because he was more experienced and he was the older brother. He is 5 years older than I which helped me, but later on with the more experience I was gaining I was also trying to help my brother. And we did spar before, but with age we’re getting so competitive that our sparring sessions were going to, going to be very emotional and all the time one of us—mostly me (laughs)—was getting hurt. So after I break my leg could you imagine how crazy the sparring was that I had to break my leg. We just decided we will never spar with each other because we’re just too competitive and too emotional and we’re getting heavier, stronger, so why we should eliminate each other? That’s why we stopped to spar with each other.

GC: Now Wladimir, in a lot of ways you were considered a unique combination of a European standup fighter who also has a bit of an American flare to his style. Can you tell us a little bit about your amateur background in boxing and explain maybe some of the differences that you have seen between the European style and the American style that you seem to have blended so well?

WK: I consider it as a compliment what you said, thank you. There is certain space to and certain stuff to be improved in my abilities and that’s what I’m working on. I got really a lot to work with special trainers such as Tommy Brooks, Freddie Roach, Don Turner, and Emmanuel Stewart and a lot of other trainers from the eastern part of the world and I took from all of them the best which I can take because old trainers they have their strong sides, and finally I found Emmanuel Stewart who is a genius in the ring. I’m not afraid to say it he is definitely a genius and I would love to say it for myself because I had collected this experience from all different coaches from different countries and this man is definitely not trying to change me not trying to change me at all. He actually aiding stuff and we discuss a lot. We, as I said before, create the work and it’s art work, which we do in the ring and the preparation, actually. It’s great ability to be able to get Soviet Boxing School because I went to the Sports School in Soviet Union in that time and the Soviet School was really, really good, the Amateur School was really, really good and strong. And I believe that specially in United States the problem, which we have, we have no amateur background. How can we have professional fighters with good abilities and they don’t have amateur background it’s, it’s of course going to go down the hill not top of the hill.

And I believe that such tournaments and Golden Gloves class and that American amateur team going to travel a lot and to compete a lot and especially with ummm, were going to have in this area young strong fighters it is going to affect their professional sports as well. There is no doubt with that. They got to be able as myself sometimes maybe trying in different countries, different coaches, and different styles. There is no advantage between American style or the European style. The only thing is which is important in boxing is the result no matter how you fight it’s the result very important. And I believe that, that maybe difference between European and American style is that the American style is very open and actually their full attention is more to land a punch and maybe, secondly important, not get punched, or actually maybe in the third place not get punched. So it is a lot of action and, I would maybe say, is in a certain way like a cowboy style, you know, very aggressive. Just get in there and get it all!

GC & JJ: (laughs)

WK: And sometimes even without strategy, maybe European styles are more, they look kind of more defensive, but I have been taught first of all not getting punches so I was working on defense. My opponents, I mean not my opponents, my sparring partners were getting into the ring and they have to attack me and I have to, staying on one leg and moving with my body, not get hit, and then I have to change the leg so on the other leg move one leg jumping in the ring and trying to get not hit. Then stay on two legs and you try to defend yourself is much easier, you move much better, but the first thing which I was taught is not getting punched. Then the second one, you look for opportunities to land a punch that’s probably the difference between American style and the European styles.

JJ: Great.

WK: Was it clear?

JJ: Yeah. We have just a few more questions for you before we let you go, and one of them is that you briefly mentioned your June 20th fight with Chagaev. Now originally you were set to face David Haye on that day and he pulled out due to an injury. And after that he was actually scheduled to face your brother and he pulled out of that fight for a fight for a fight with Nicolai Valuev. Could you post what your opinions are of David David Haye both in and outside of the ring?

WK: I don’t like to talk about somebody who is not really present in the conversation and he can’t answer any questions and so and so, but I will give you just my comment on it that if somebody like David Haye calls you out during the year—he calls you out, he calls you out, he calls you out—he talks a lot of not truthful and not really good things about you as the person, and also, he is representing himself with the decapitated bodies of your family members, which is completely over the edge. In this world there are lot of sports and rules in the sports and there is certain behavior in the sports, but that was definitely out of regular behavior and out of any understanding and over the edge and below the belt-line the way how he promoted himself.

Then he was getting to the fight first of all he is promising things, which he cannot with his manager Adam Booth which he cannot deliver as Chelsea stadium in London. And I have to wait for him for half a year because of Chelsea stadium on June 20th—that was the previous fight scheduled for and otherwise we’re going to fight in March—so he could not deliver it and I was waiting for June. I said, “Alright, so I’m going to fight you”, because not only me want to see this fight, but also the fans the boxing fans were so excited he promoted himself so well that they want to see David Haye going down in the Klitschko fight. So I said, “Okay David, we’re going to fight.”, and he asked me if the fight was going to be on June 20th. It did not happen in London. I had to find another stadium in Germany, which we did with K2 and two weeks before he bailed out. I don’t blame him you know injury in sports are so close and athletes always getting injuries, and so it happens, but then later on for him ask me to postpone it for a week, then for two weeks, then for four weeks, then for seven weeks, I mean I couldn’t really decide can I take this man serious or not. So I decided no matter what I’m going to fight on June 20th,because I lost my time already with him, I was getting really rusted because I wasn’t fighting in March or April as usually. And then the Vitali fight with him was in line. We were negotiating and then suddenly, the man disappeared the day before the contract had to be signed. The man disappeared and his manager didn’t even pickup the phone to tell us that the fight is off because we have signed with Valuev.

And then his comments at the end that “Valuev is much more easier to fight for me”, David said. “To me Valuev is an easier fight than a Klitschko”. There is no logic, but I mean the logic is just simple and ridiculous. I don’t know, there should be certain pride. If you say something, if you want to have fight and you call somebody to this fight and you actually signed the same contract before which he was supposed to fight and signing contract with my brother Vitali so inside of the contract did not change finding excuses you know the contract was bad whatever was bad it’s totally ridiculous. I don’t see this man. This man is immature as a person and he is immature as a fighter that’s my opinion and that’s it.

GC: Now Wlad, I have a question for you, and I actually had the opportunity to speak Emmanuel Stewart about this, where they are saying some people claim it is a weak heavy weight division right now, but other great champions from the past like Larry Holmes and Joe Lewis have been able to establish themselves by dominating in the sport over a long period of time which seems to be what you are on your way doing. My question for you is what would you like to accomplish in your career before all is said and done and how would you like to be remembered by the fans?

WK: To be honest with you, I don’t really care or think about legacy and how I’m going to be remembered. I just enjoy what I’m doing and I really enjoy to fight. I don’t like to watch the fights, I’m not really going to the fight nights to see somebody. I definitely don’t like it, but I love when I’m in the ring and when I am preparing to defend, and I love to have a challenge, and I love what I do. Otherwise I will not be for several weeks in the camp and be on schedule because it is also pretty difficult. As a young man, to put yourself in the certain surrounding where you have nothing, but boxing is pretty difficult. Could you imagine at my age and, but anyway I do it I do it with understanding why I’m doing it for what I’m doing it because I love it. Without love I probably will stop to do it. I love to perform I love to be surrounded with people, I love people, I love it when especially not man giving me compliments what a good fighter I am but from the females when I am getting it, it’s much better

So and it’s just an enjoyable time to be at the top of the performance and sport because I had many years of the sport behind me. I just really, really enjoy it and especially because I understand it’s not forever. The actual life of sport is very short and I just enjoy it and I’m not 23 I’m 33. I am at my best time anything I can wish in the sport, but I also understand that I don’t have so much time left so I really enjoy every second being involved in the sport.

JJ: Great, great Wladimir, we don’t want to keep you too long today, so I have one final question for you and that is, is there anything you want to go say to all of your fans that you have out there?

WK: I am so appreciated first of all to you my fans—our fans—that’s actually wrong, it’s not my fans it’s our fans of the sport of boxing. I’m talking right now from all the champions of this sport, if I may, and everyone who involved as a fighter in this sport. Without you we will not compete, we will not show our best performances, we will not do what we do actually. Thanks a lot, I want to say thank you to all of you that you have time and passion to look at different weight classes and stay with us through the years because I do know lot of fans who through the years are fans actually for ever in the life of this sport because this sport is amazing. The history of this sport is very long and it’s a classic sport.

By the way, boxing starts when two gentlemen want to get heart of a woman and she was watching how two gentlemen you know talk to each other with the fists and one guy who won, he will get the heart of the woman. So that was what the fight was. That’s why I am talking also about female fans. We have not only guys who are watching but also female fans and I just want to say thank you for it. Stick with us, and stick with the Klitschko brothers and thanks for your attention. I wish all of you stay in good health and just have fun in the sport, which you’re following.

JJ: Great. Well thank you very much Wladimir for giving us this time in this interview and we wish you the best with your future fight.

WK: Thank you for having me and it was really a pleasure to talk to my fans through you guys.

GC: Thank you Wladimir.

Source

If you want to listen to the interview you can go here.

Tags: interviews, Wladimir Klitschko Interview, Wladimir Klitschko, Klitschko Blog, klitschkoblog.com

Wladimir Klitschko Radio Interview

This is a new recent radio interview from Blog Talk Radio with the current WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko where he talks about his career, how he would like to be remembered, his opinion on David Haye inside and outside the ring, his past fights, overcoming adversity, and much more!

At the 75 minute and 30 second mark of the video is where Wladimir's interview is....

Tags: interviews, Klitschko Interviews, Wladimir Klitschko Interview, Radio Interview, Klitschko Radio Interview, Wladimir Klitshcko Radio Interview, Klitschko Blog, klitschkoblog.com

Klitschko Chagaev Videos

Here are some good links to the German RTL site showing some new videos leading up to the heavyweight championship bout between Wladimir Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev this Saturday, June 20th. Videos are in German....

Video with additional press conference footage

Video with Wladimir training including manual labor

Wladimir Klitschko Interview

Another W. Klitschko Interview

Chagaev footage including training

Chagaev and Klitschko footage including training

More Chagaev training footage

Tags: Wladimir Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko Opponents, Wladimir Klitschko Videos, Klitschko Opponent Videos, Wladimir Klitschko Interview, Klitschko Opponent Interviews, Klitschko Opponent News, Klitschko Blog

Wladimir Klitschko Q & A

Before his big fight on June 20th with Ruslan Chagaev, current WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir KLitschko and a short question and answer session and goes over different topics like who he looks up to, what he wanted to do as a profession growing up, and more. Here's the video of that Q & A session:

Tags: Wladimir Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko Videos, Wladimir Klitschko Interview, Klitschko Blog

Klitschko Haye Ringside Interviews

The following are video interviews by Ringside with the current WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and former cruiserweight turned ranked heavyweight contender David Haye ahead of their heavyweight title fight on June 20th, 2009.

Wladimir Klitschko Interview

David Haye Interview

Technorati Tags: interviews, Wladimir Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko Interview, Wladimir Klitschko Videos, Videos, Klitschko Opponent Interviews, Klitschko Opponent Videos, Wladimir Klitschko Opponents, Klitschko Blog

Klitschko's Backstage on Wetten Dass

This is video footage of the Klitschko brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko being interviewed while they were backstage Wetten Dass, which is a popular European German language game and entertainment tv show.

*in German