Wladimir Klitschko world heavyweight champion) dominated heavyweight boxing, a period typically known as the "Klitschko Era" of the division. Klitschko was born in Semipalatinsk (now Semey), Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union (now Kazakhstan). His father, Vladimir Rodionovich Klichko (1947–2011), was a Soviet Air Force major general and a military attaché of Ukraine in Germany; he was also one of the commanders in charge of cleaning up the effects of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and was afterward diagnosed with cancer. Wladimir's mother is Nadezhda Ulyanovna. He is the younger brother of former WBC, WBO and Ring magazine heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, the current
Vitali Klitschko vs. Odlanier Solís that he had fought some strong opponents, but never an Olympic gold medalist. (Which is false, as he faced Lennox Lewis, who is a former Olympic Gold Medalist). He also said that he expected a tough and close fight against a young and talented fighter. Solis' manager Ahmet Öner had also acucsed Vitali Klitschko for avoiding this fight for a long time. The second press conference was held on March 14 in Cologne. The press conference was quiet and there were no trash talk at the conference, although they both promised a knockout. Ticket sales for the fight started on