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 heavyweight champion of all time, has the fifth longest combined world championship reign in history at 2,735 days, the third longest individual WBC heavyweight title streak of all time at 9 consecutive defenses and the 4th longest combined title streak in the modern heavyweight history at 15 title bouts. He held the WBO title from 1999 to 2000; the "Ring" magazine title from 2004 to 2005; and the WBC title twice, from 2004 to 2005 and from 2008 to 2013. Standing at 2.01 metres (6 feet 7 inches), Klitschko was renowned for having exceptional ring dominance. With an 87% knockout