(October 4, 2007) Beijing, China—-

There was a time when the heavyweight division was ruled by one King. Since the retirement of Lennox Lewis four years ago, the flagship division in boxing was occupied by a bunch of lackluster fighters that were seemingly dead. There has been no unified heavyweight champion for over four years.

Wladimir Klitschko is the one to put this "sorry state" to an end. After registering a series of stunning victories over such strong adversaries as Samuel Peter, Chris Byrd, Calvin Brock and Lamon Brewster in a row, calmly and confidently, the Ring Magazine's No.1 heavyweight champion said to the author: "my next goal is to unify the heavyweight titles!"

--Rising As A New Star--

Wladimir Klitschko was born on March 25, 1976 in Semipalatinsk. His father was a colonel in the Soviet Air Force. His mother was an attendant.

In the summer of 1996, Klitschko finished his master's education and was accepted in the postgraduate study program of the Kiev University. Five years later, he presented his doctorate dissertation and was awarded a Ph.D. in Sports Science. From then on, every time when ring announcer Michael Buffer does the introduction of Wladimir Klitschko before his boxing match, he always address him with the unique title "Doctor". We also kindly call him "Dr. Steel Hammer".

Klitschko began training in boxing at a very early age, but he never thought boxing would become such an important facet of his life.

"I got interested in boxing when I was 14, but I never thought I would make it as an amateur or as a pro,” Klitschko explained. "I dreamed about everything as a boy - military man, spaceman, but being a fighter? No, never!"

As an amateur, Klitschko won the gold medal in the super heavyweight division in the 1996 Olympic Games, becoming the first white gold medallist in the highest weight class in 36 years.

--The Biggest Upset--

With an outstanding amateur career record of 134-6, the 20-year-old Klitschko turned pro in the same year and reaped a first-round TKO victory over Fabian Meza in Hamburg, Germany. Klitschko held a 24-fight winning streak and concluded his first 35 bouts with an astounding record of 35-1. Surprisingly, these 34 fighters never managed to go past eight rounds. On October 14th, 2000, he dethroned the then WBO titleholder Chris Byrd over a 12-round unanimous decision and crowned the heavyweight champ for the first time in his life. He knocked out his next five challengers with ease. The 6'6" Ukrainian giant seemed to be the next big thing to replace Lennox Lewis as the new undisputed heavyweight king of this era.

Perhaps fame and honor comes too soon for this arrogant 26-year-old champion. On March 8th, 2003, the WBO king was dethroned by a foreign intruder named Corrie Sanders who brutally floored him three times in just two rounds and smashed his dignity of being a king. This is the biggest upset Klitschko has encountered throughout his entire career to date. Klitschko learned from this painful experience that in order to go further in the heavyweight division, he had to improve.

--The Mystery--

Realizing his own weaknesses, Klitschko managed to add legendary coach Emanuel Steward to his corner. On the night of April 10th, 2004, after scoring two more comeback victories, the former world champion had a chance to redeem himself. His opponent, Lamon Brewster, was a 6' 1" straight ahead 8-to-1 underdog, who gave up five-inches in height. It sounded like a perfect opponent for redemption. As expected, the fight went on well in favor of Klitschko in the early rounds. The former king looked as imposing as he had in his Old Kingdom. The underdog was kept at bay by the stinging jabs thrown from the Ukrainian giant, absorbing ridiculous punishment that included a third round tumble to the deck. In the fourth, Klitschko scored with a chopping right hand behind the ear and dropped Brewster to the floor. It seemed that it's just a matter of time before Klitschko knocked Brewster cold to the canvas.

But something weird happened. After scoring that knockdown, Klitschko suddenly looked exhausted, breathing heavily with his mouth wide open. In the fifth, he had no punches. He could barely clinch his opponent while gulping for air. A series of right and left hooks from Brewster prompted a standing eight count against Klitschko. When the one-sided action resumed Klitschko was a spent shell. He fell onto the floor after a struggle with Brewster on the ropes at the bell. It wasn't so much a clean punch as it was utterly mysterious fatigue.

The former king took one more staggering step to his corner when the referee waved off the fight at the bell.

There was much speculation about Klitschko's abrupt fatigue. Many called it a stamina problem for Klitschko that cost him the fight, while others thought it was not that simple. Veteran referee Robert Byrd explained afterwards that he'd never seen a knockout victim display such bizarre symptoms.

When mentioning about this topic, Klitschko seemed quite talkative. He candidly told the author:

"Yes, it was weird to me as well. Because I was ready for this fight and this fight was important to us,” Klitschko confided. "I meant Vitali and me. Because then in two more weeks, we were supposed to be the champions of the world at the same time."

"So I was dominating all those rounds and things were going good, but after the second round, I couldn't describe it, but I kind of… I kind of lost my power and I kind of slowed down and all became gloomy. I was actually fighting with myself to move around the ring instead of fighting my opponent."

"I can't describe it. I went to the hospital after the first fight. And the doctor said that I am diabetic. And (there was) too much sugar in my blood and I almost felt the sugar coma which wasn't the good news for me. So I checked myself. I don't have any illnesses. I don't have diabetes. I am a healthy person and I am as clean as a whistle. So I can continue my sports courage. That's the most important question for me."