"OUR
LIFE IS NOT LIMITED TO THE BOXING RING."
SOCIAL LIFE. INTERESTS.
From
the early childhood Vitali and Wladimir's parents gave their sons all-round
upbringing. Brothers were engaged not only in sports, but also music. While
Vitali's musical play on an accordion has become a thing of the past, his love
for music still remains. And even now, in a close circle of friends, Vitali
takes out guitar and starts playing it. Wladimir, in his free time between
fights, takes lessons on saxophone.
Their interests and hobbies include: new developments in info tech, Internet,
study of foreign languages, magic tricks, water sports, mountain skiing, chess
and bungee jumping. Wladimir takes flying lessons on both plane and helicopter.
Vitali is captivated by scuba diving.
Klitschko brothers have created their own design collection of men's sports and
leather clothes with HUGO BOSS.
Wladimir and Vitali have become authors, writing a best-selling book "Our
Fitness," about a healthy and active lifestyle. "We get the biggest pleasure
from conversations with interesting people," Wladimir speaks. Klitschko
brothers have met Bill Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Schumacher,
Boris Becker, John Bon Jovi, Armani, Kasparov, Mohammed Ali and many others.
On March 10, 2000, at the "Echo" music awards ceremony, in Hamburg, Germany,
Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, as guests of honor, presented the award for
"best German group" to Die Phantastischen Vier.
In May, 2000, Klitschko brothers were invited by Prince Albert of Monaco to the
annual festival "Monte-Carlo World Music Awards." Wladimir gave the award "Best
Russian Artist" to Christina Orbakayte.
January, 2001, Wladimir and Vitali took part in "European Christmas Circus
Show" where they performed jokes and trick to the audience. Also brothers got
acquainted with Oleg Popovum, their childhood idol.
On March 7, 2001, a literary evening devoted to memory of Mikhail Bulgakov took
place in Hamburg. Vitali and a known German actress Iris Berben read fragments
of Bulgakov's most mystical novel The Master and Margarita. All money collected
from this event were donated towards restoration of a female monastery in
Odessa. April,
2001, Wladimir and Vitali take part in filming of Ocean's 11, a remake of very
popular comedy from the sixties. Wladimir played himself in a staged
championship fight with Lennox Lewis at MGM Grand.
On
May 7, 2001, Vitali and Wladimir were invited as guests of honor to the awards
ceremony "Laureus Sport Award." Then brothers visited F1 Grand Prix Monaco, to
which they were invited by Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.
On
May 13, 2001, thousands of Leipzig's inhabitants witnessed a simultaneous game
on 16 chessboards by Gary Kasparov. His contenders included Vitali and Wladimir
Klitschko. All sixteen were quickly defeated by Kasparov. Vitali jokingly
suggested a rematch - in a ring. And then rather seriously added "Gary Kasparov
is Mohammed Ali of chess." On June 16, 2001, in central squire of Kiev a
Formula 1 presentation was held. Vitali and Wladimir invited West Adrenaline
Show team, as well as formula 1 driver Mika Hakkinen.
On
August 8, 2001, Vitali and Wladimir met with Mohammed Ali. They were invited by
Mouthpiece Productions - Ali's management company at the time. "Ali was
impressed by Wladimir's victory over Charles Shufford, who played George
Foreman role in film Ali, and invited us to a meeting," recalls Vitali.
Brothers discussed about a future movie presentation in Kiev, and enjoyed their
first meeting with childhood idol.
In the middle of September, 2001, in Hamburg (Germany) Vitali and Wladimir
Klitschko signed contract with one of the largest marketing firm UFA SPORTS.
"We have compared different offers for marketing our trademark Klitschko. This
company presented the best offer and due to its extensive experience in sport
marketing we selected UFA Sports to officially represent us," commented
brothers.
On September 27, 2001, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko visited Max Schmeling. Max
Schmeling was a former world heavyweight champion who knocked out Joe Louis in
what has been called "the biggest upset of the century." That was back in
1930's when he was young, now he's 98 years old. He started from the bottom and
became a living legend. He turned his back to politicians and kept honor of
true world champion. After WWII, during which he was drafted into paratrooper
division, he ended his boxing career and started a small business. He opened a
factory to produce "Coca-cola", which was foreign to Europe. "An hour spent
with Max passed like one second," Wladimir said. "I was really impressed by his
precise mind and energy. He is 98 now and still very strong. He was successful
boxer - a living legend not only in Europe, but also in America. Even though he
hasn't fought for sixty years now, he remains the most popular athlete in
Germany. Max is a remarkable person with great personality."
On October 3, 2001, Vitali and Wladimir were guests at a premiere of a new TV
show being hosted by world known magician David Koperfilda. For Wladimir, who's
fascinated by magic tricks, this was a priceless moment.
In
February, 2002, Wladimir was invited to a premiere of Arnold Schwarzenegger's
new film Collateral damage. After premiere Wladimir spend close to an hour
chatting with Arnold. "Arnold is a very sociable person and in real life he's
no Terminator. He even speaks quietly. He was very interested in my brothers
and my career and wanted to find out about our future fight. And since my
brother was training for his upcoming fight, and was unable to attend, Arnold
singed an autograph for Vitali."
On July 24, 2002, in Hamburg (Germany) Wladimir, Vitali and Natalia (Vitali's
wife) presented to German press their 192-page book Our Fitness. The book
became best-seller with over 500,000 copies sold in Germany alone.
On October 17, 2002 Vitali and Wladimir played a game of chess against computer
chess stimulator Deep Purple. Vitali, who's a big fan of chess, was beaten on
the 32 move by a computer machine. The next day Deep Purple carried out a seven
game match against Vladimir Kramnik called "Human against the Machine." The
match ended in a draw 3.5 to 3.5. This same day, Klitschko brothers visited the
oldest European chess club Hamburger Schachklub. There Wladimir tested his
chess skills, and ended his match against the youngest grand master (Sergey
Karyakinum) in a draw. In mid February, 2003, Wladimir was invited to take part
at the music awards ceremony Echo - 2003. There he presented an award to German
singer Nene for "the best pop music." On March 23, 2003, at the Leipzig book
fair, a German association of book trade gave out its "book of the year"
awards. Over 80,000 writers were nominated for seven prestigious awards. In the
end, Klitschko brother's book Our Fitness was awarded "the best health/science
book of the year." On September 4, 2003, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, by
invitation of publishing house Sofia, arrived in Moscow to take part in
presentation of translated version of their book 12 rounds of Fitness. The
presentation took place during the 16th Moscow international book fair, where
2695 publishing houses from 82 countries presented couple hundred thousand
books to Russian readers. "This was a pleasant surprise for us. People were
very courteous to us, wished us luck:we had no idea we were so popular in
Russia," recalled Vitali. On September 10, 2003, Klitschko brothers presented
their book in their hometown Kiev. In Ukraine the book was issued in both
Ukrainian and Russian with a title Our Fitness. Simple secrets of champions.
"The idea to write this book came from all those questions, emails and
interviews about our training and lifestyle. Gradually these questions were
constantly repeated, and we decided come up with something for our fans. Thus
the idea of book was born," recalled Klitchko.
From
the early childhood Vitali and Wladimir's parents gave their sons all-round
upbringing. Brothers were engaged not only in sports, but also music. While
Vitali's musical play on an accordion has become a thing of the past, his love
for music still remains. And even now, in a close circle of friends, Vitali
takes out guitar and starts playing it. Wladimir, in his free time between
fights, takes lessons on saxophone.
Their interests and hobbies include: new developments in info tech, Internet,
study of foreign languages, magic tricks, water sports, mountain skiing, chess
and bungee jumping. Wladimir takes flying lessons on both plane and helicopter.
Vitali is captivated by scuba diving.
On March 10, 2000, at the "Echo" music awards ceremony, in Hamburg, Germany,
Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, as guests of honor, presented the award for
"best German group" to Die Phantastischen Vier.
April,
2001, Wladimir and Vitali take part in filming of Ocean's 11, a remake of very
popular comedy from the sixties. Wladimir played himself in a staged
championship fight with Lennox Lewis at MGM Grand.
On
May 7, 2001, Vitali and Wladimir were invited as guests of honor to the awards
ceremony "Laureus Sport Award." Then brothers visited F1 Grand Prix Monaco, to
which they were invited by Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.
On
May 13, 2001, thousands of Leipzig's inhabitants witnessed a simultaneous game
on 16 chessboards by Gary Kasparov. His contenders included Vitali and Wladimir
Klitschko. All sixteen were quickly defeated by Kasparov. Vitali jokingly
suggested a rematch - in a ring. And then rather seriously added "Gary Kasparov
is Mohammed Ali of chess." On June 16, 2001, in central squire of Kiev a
Formula 1 presentation was held. Vitali and Wladimir invited West Adrenaline
Show team, as well as formula 1 driver Mika Hakkinen.
On
August 8, 2001, Vitali and Wladimir met with Mohammed Ali. They were invited by
Mouthpiece Productions - Ali's management company at the time. "Ali was
impressed by Wladimir's victory over Charles Shufford, who played George
Foreman role in film Ali, and invited us to a meeting," recalls Vitali.
Brothers discussed about a future movie presentation in Kiev, and enjoyed their
first meeting with childhood idol.
On October 3, 2001, Vitali and Wladimir were guests at a premiere of a new TV
show being hosted by world known magician David Koperfilda. For Wladimir, who's
fascinated by magic tricks, this was a priceless moment.
In
February, 2002, Wladimir was invited to a premiere of Arnold Schwarzenegger's
new film Collateral damage. After premiere Wladimir spend close to an hour
chatting with Arnold. "Arnold is a very sociable person and in real life he's
no Terminator. He even speaks quietly. He was very interested in my brothers
and my career and wanted to find out about our future fight. And since my
brother was training for his upcoming fight, and was unable to attend, Arnold
singed an autograph for Vitali."
