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Ray Austin, who lost to Wladimir in 2007 by a stoppage in the second round
“He’s an all around athlete. A great athlete, a better athlete than what I’d anticipated when I got in there with him. He’s got everything a heavyweight is supposed to have – he’s strong, he’s got mobility, movement, good jab. But the key thing was for me to go in there and take it to him and make him fight and don’t let him box and get in his comfort zone. That was the plan – to break his rhythm. He was kind of fast on his feet. His mobile movement from the right to the left was better than I anticipated beause when I first went in there, I cut the left off immediately and he darted back the other way. And he did it so swiftly and fast. He just moved with no problems, like this is what I do. I said, ‘Oh okay, this guy isn’t gonna stand still.’ He came to fight. I watched the Sam Peter fight and Sam seemed like he caught up with him a little more. Even though he boxed Sam pretty good, Sam was able to catch up with him and land a couple of punches. And that’s what I was looking to do.
“I think Wladimir’s one of the greatest so far. He hasn’t really truly been tested, he’s been in a couple of wars, he won a few, lost a few but he’s still got to prove himself.”
Phil Jackson was stopped by Wlad in two rounds in 1999 and sparred the champion
“The experience that I got from Wladimir? He’s a tough cookie. He had those losses, I don’t know what happened to him. To me, Wladimir – he’s a good fighter. He wears you down with that power, man.
“If it had been Wladimir in there when his brother fought Lennox Lewis, I think he would have dropped Lennox Lewis. I honestly do. Now he boxes more, he boxes smarter now and waits for the right time to use the power.”
Monte Barrett lost by KO to Wladimir in 2000 and sparred both brothers
“I was in camp with Wladimir for a month. The guy is a serious guy, he trains really hard. And his brother is the truth. Not to say who’s the better of the brothers, which one’s better, I think Vitali takes more risks than Wladimir. I think he’s a little more aggressive, not a lot. But he’s a little more aggressive. And he fights with a chip on his shoulder. Vitali’s very ****y, Wladimir’s very confident.”
Chris Byrd, who lost to Wladimir in 2000 (pts 12) and 2006 (rsf 6)
“Wladimir beat me the first time, I just didn’t feel right. The second fight. I was never in the fight. He fought a great fight. He made some changes to his style. He got my respect for beating Sam Peter. I got hit with all kinds of punches. It wasn’t the fight we trained for in sparring. Everything felt great going in but when you get out there and start getting hit and certain things don’t work for you… I thank the Lord I had the chance to have a rematch with Wladimir. He’s such a big, strong, good boxer. I take nothing away from him. It was knuckle-headed of me to think I was bigger and stronger than him. He’s 241 pounds of muscle and I was 212 pounds of bulked up muscle, not even for-real muscle. So I felt I had to go in there and push him around and it didn’t work out. It was a horrid showing, getting hit with all kinds of punches. I was pretty sharp in sparring, I was pretty aggressive, but Wladimir Klitschko is a big, strong guy, he’s talented. He knows how to box. It’s hard to fight him.”
Lamon Brewster defeated Wladimir in 2004 and lost to him in 2007
“He was able to maintain the jab whereas the last time I knew his jab would be busy but I was able to get past it. In the second fight his jab was better, he had an awesome jab and I tried to get past it but I couldn’t. So then he was accumulating punches. I knew, at some point, I couldn’t keep getting hit like that. I felt I was the same, relentless Lamon Brewster in both fights but sometimes somebody has the better night. Unlike crying wolf or saying poison [Wladimir claimed he had been poisoned after the loss], you just admit when someone’s better than you that night. He was better that night.”
Sultan Ibragimov lost a wide decision to Wladimir at Madison Square Garden in 2008
“I should have been more aggressive. When I tried to go forward he’d go back. If I did get inside, he’d hold me. I couldn’t fight him. It wasn’t that I took his punches, or his speed or power. It was his height and it was a very hard technical fight. Nobody could do anything. I felt bad that I didn’t train differently. I should have had more of an attack strategy than defence. I think he fights almost scared. He’s a defensive fighter. He doesn’t want you to check his chin. It’s hard to fight a guy like that. He fights safe. Many times he’ll throw a jab and go half-step back, not move forward.”
Jameel McCline faced Wladimir in 2002, losing by 10th-round stoppage
“He was so hard to fight because he has a great jab. He had really good speed and he was extremely intelligent.
“He threw shots to the belly that I never thought a heavyweight could get away with, so quickly, without me catching him with a left hook on the way out, or a right hand on the way out. His intelligence translated into ramrod jabs that I was unable to get around. I spent some time with Wladimir in Austria two years ago when he was getting ready for Mariusz Wach. And I explained how he and his brother have effectively changed the heavyweight division. He said, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ I said, ‘Well, think about it: Ten years ago we all fought each other. No. 9 fought no. 4. No. 3 fought no. 7. No. 8 fought no. 2. And the No. 1 and the champion fought everyone. Now, you guys beat guys that come out of nowhere, who no-one has really seen. They’ve had maybe only one HBO date prior, if any, and all the sudden you’re fighting them. The shot of their life. And no one sees them again.’ And he thought about it. He was quiet for about a full fifteen seconds. And then he said, ‘You’re right.’ And I said, ‘Not that those guys aren’t decent fighters but it’s completely different. Everyone is out to get a shot at Klitschko as opposed to being the best that they can be. The Klitschkos transcended the heavyweight division. They completely changed how things work in the heavyweight division. Ten years after my fight with him he is still relevant in so many ways in the heavyweight division. It’s just really brilliant and amazing what he has been able to accomplish for all these years. He hasn’t gone down at all. The competition is completely different than it used to be. But, still, he beat that competition. Now he’s beating this lesser competition. Not taking anything away from anyone.
“He’s an all around athlete. A great athlete, a better athlete than what I’d anticipated when I got in there with him. He’s got everything a heavyweight is supposed to have – he’s strong, he’s got mobility, movement, good jab. But the key thing was for me to go in there and take it to him and make him fight and don’t let him box and get in his comfort zone. That was the plan – to break his rhythm. He was kind of fast on his feet. His mobile movement from the right to the left was better than I anticipated beause when I first went in there, I cut the left off immediately and he darted back the other way. And he did it so swiftly and fast. He just moved with no problems, like this is what I do. I said, ‘Oh okay, this guy isn’t gonna stand still.’ He came to fight. I watched the Sam Peter fight and Sam seemed like he caught up with him a little more. Even though he boxed Sam pretty good, Sam was able to catch up with him and land a couple of punches. And that’s what I was looking to do.
“I think Wladimir’s one of the greatest so far. He hasn’t really truly been tested, he’s been in a couple of wars, he won a few, lost a few but he’s still got to prove himself.”
Phil Jackson was stopped by Wlad in two rounds in 1999 and sparred the champion
“The experience that I got from Wladimir? He’s a tough cookie. He had those losses, I don’t know what happened to him. To me, Wladimir – he’s a good fighter. He wears you down with that power, man.
“If it had been Wladimir in there when his brother fought Lennox Lewis, I think he would have dropped Lennox Lewis. I honestly do. Now he boxes more, he boxes smarter now and waits for the right time to use the power.”
Monte Barrett lost by KO to Wladimir in 2000 and sparred both brothers
“I was in camp with Wladimir for a month. The guy is a serious guy, he trains really hard. And his brother is the truth. Not to say who’s the better of the brothers, which one’s better, I think Vitali takes more risks than Wladimir. I think he’s a little more aggressive, not a lot. But he’s a little more aggressive. And he fights with a chip on his shoulder. Vitali’s very ****y, Wladimir’s very confident.”
Chris Byrd, who lost to Wladimir in 2000 (pts 12) and 2006 (rsf 6)
“Wladimir beat me the first time, I just didn’t feel right. The second fight. I was never in the fight. He fought a great fight. He made some changes to his style. He got my respect for beating Sam Peter. I got hit with all kinds of punches. It wasn’t the fight we trained for in sparring. Everything felt great going in but when you get out there and start getting hit and certain things don’t work for you… I thank the Lord I had the chance to have a rematch with Wladimir. He’s such a big, strong, good boxer. I take nothing away from him. It was knuckle-headed of me to think I was bigger and stronger than him. He’s 241 pounds of muscle and I was 212 pounds of bulked up muscle, not even for-real muscle. So I felt I had to go in there and push him around and it didn’t work out. It was a horrid showing, getting hit with all kinds of punches. I was pretty sharp in sparring, I was pretty aggressive, but Wladimir Klitschko is a big, strong guy, he’s talented. He knows how to box. It’s hard to fight him.”
Lamon Brewster defeated Wladimir in 2004 and lost to him in 2007
“He was able to maintain the jab whereas the last time I knew his jab would be busy but I was able to get past it. In the second fight his jab was better, he had an awesome jab and I tried to get past it but I couldn’t. So then he was accumulating punches. I knew, at some point, I couldn’t keep getting hit like that. I felt I was the same, relentless Lamon Brewster in both fights but sometimes somebody has the better night. Unlike crying wolf or saying poison [Wladimir claimed he had been poisoned after the loss], you just admit when someone’s better than you that night. He was better that night.”
Sultan Ibragimov lost a wide decision to Wladimir at Madison Square Garden in 2008
“I should have been more aggressive. When I tried to go forward he’d go back. If I did get inside, he’d hold me. I couldn’t fight him. It wasn’t that I took his punches, or his speed or power. It was his height and it was a very hard technical fight. Nobody could do anything. I felt bad that I didn’t train differently. I should have had more of an attack strategy than defence. I think he fights almost scared. He’s a defensive fighter. He doesn’t want you to check his chin. It’s hard to fight a guy like that. He fights safe. Many times he’ll throw a jab and go half-step back, not move forward.”
Jameel McCline faced Wladimir in 2002, losing by 10th-round stoppage
“He was so hard to fight because he has a great jab. He had really good speed and he was extremely intelligent.
“He threw shots to the belly that I never thought a heavyweight could get away with, so quickly, without me catching him with a left hook on the way out, or a right hand on the way out. His intelligence translated into ramrod jabs that I was unable to get around. I spent some time with Wladimir in Austria two years ago when he was getting ready for Mariusz Wach. And I explained how he and his brother have effectively changed the heavyweight division. He said, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ I said, ‘Well, think about it: Ten years ago we all fought each other. No. 9 fought no. 4. No. 3 fought no. 7. No. 8 fought no. 2. And the No. 1 and the champion fought everyone. Now, you guys beat guys that come out of nowhere, who no-one has really seen. They’ve had maybe only one HBO date prior, if any, and all the sudden you’re fighting them. The shot of their life. And no one sees them again.’ And he thought about it. He was quiet for about a full fifteen seconds. And then he said, ‘You’re right.’ And I said, ‘Not that those guys aren’t decent fighters but it’s completely different. Everyone is out to get a shot at Klitschko as opposed to being the best that they can be. The Klitschkos transcended the heavyweight division. They completely changed how things work in the heavyweight division. Ten years after my fight with him he is still relevant in so many ways in the heavyweight division. It’s just really brilliant and amazing what he has been able to accomplish for all these years. He hasn’t gone down at all. The competition is completely different than it used to be. But, still, he beat that competition. Now he’s beating this lesser competition. Not taking anything away from anyone.
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