He wasn’t supposed to be as good as his brother, wasn’t supposed to be much of anything at all.
Vitali Klitschko was so awkward that he looked like he was going to fall down every time he threw a punch.
Promoters wanted his younger brother, Wladimir. Vitali came along as part of the package.
Now he’s a heavyweight champion, thanks to a dominating win on Saturday over Corrie Sanders that might have given boxing what it desperately needed — a bright new star in the heavyweight division.
”It was my dream and goal to be world champion,” Klitschko said.
”I worked so long time for it, seven years. Right now I’m really happy.”
Fighting in his adopted hometown, Klitschko stopped a battered and bloody Sanders in the eighth round.
He did more than just win the WBC heavyweight title and show that his performance last year against Lennox Lewis was no fluke.
He also avenged his family’s honor by stopping the fighter who derailed Wladimir’s career by knocking him out last year.
Wladimir stood with his brother in the ring before the fight, staring unblinkingly across the ring at Sanders. He stood with him afterward, holding the gaudy green WBC belt Vitali had just won.
In this Ukrainian family, brotherly love means more than just talk.
”Part of this belt is my brother’s,” Vitali said. ”I was in the shadow of my brother, but we work together. It’s not important which brother is champion. Without my brother, I couldn’t take the belt.”
He came close to winning the same belt last June when he was leading Lewis after six rounds before being stopped on cuts. The performance seemed to give him newfound confidence, and it showed against Sanders.
The left-handed Sanders caught Klitschko with a big left hand late in the first round that sent him across the ring, then spent much of the rest of the fight trying to land the same punch. In between, though, he took a tremendous beating from Klitschko.
Klitschko landed more than half of his punches, 230 of the 413 he threw, to only 51 of 229 by Sanders. The only suspense after the early rounds was whether Sanders would land one big left hand to turn the fight around, and he couldn’t.
Sanders was bleeding heavily from his nose and left ear, and his face was a battered mess when Klitschko landed a series of six unanswered punches that finally prompted the referee to stop the fight at 2:46 of the eighth round.
”I was surprised he never went down. He took so many punches,” Klitschko said.
Watching at ringside with more than a casual interest was Lewis, who retired this year rather than meet Klitschko in a rematch.
Lewis was advising Sanders, but he couldn’t fight for him.
Though Lewis has given no indication he would return to the ring, Klitschko said he would like the chance to meet him again in what could be a huge money match. Klitschko told Lewis as much when he visited him in the postfight locker room.
”Ten months ago, Lennox Lewis promised me there would be a rematch,” Klitschko said. ”I told him I hope we can still fight.”
Lewis isn’t the only one Klitschko is interested in. He wouldn’t mind fighting Mike Tyson, who is planning to return to the ring sometime this summer.
”Maybe it would be a great fight with Iron Mike,” Klitschko said.
There’s also a possible rematch with IBF champion Chris Byrd, who handed Klitschko one of only two losses in his career.
Klitschko was winning the fight easily when he quit after the ninth round because of an injured shoulder.
For now, though, the immediate thought is to get some rest, spend some time at home in Los Angeles with his wife and two kids and enjoy the fruits of being a heavyweight champion.
And there are other goals. The Klitschkos want to be heavyweight champions at the same time, a plan that went awry two weeks ago when Wladimir was knocked out in the fifth round by Lamon Brewster.
Vitali Klitschko believes his brother can still be champion. In his mind, Wladimir already is.
”We split our wins together, and we split our losses together,” Wladimir said. ”He will have a chance to fight again for a world championship and be a world champion just like me.” – Sapa-AP