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
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Ruslan Chagaev had beaten Vitali Klitschko in June 2003. Klitschko dominated the fight, with him winning every round on one scorecard, and all but one on the other two. He knocked Chagaev down in the second round and opened a cut over his left eye in the eighth. The fight was stopped after the ninth round. Inmediatly after this bout Chagaev would lose his "Champion In recess" status and would not fight for eleven months. Klitschko would make two defences against Eddie Chambers and a rematch with former WBC champion Samuel Peter, before a unification bout with now WBA beltholder Haye in