Wladimir Klitschko is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held the world heavyweight championship twice, including the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, Ring magazine and lineal titles. A strategic and intelligent boxer, Klitschko is considered to be one of the best heavyweight champions of all time. He was known for his exceptional knockout power, using a strong jab, straight right hand and left hook, as well as excellent footwork and mobility, unusual for boxers of his size. Until his loss to Tyson Fury in 2015, Klitschko was also recognized as lineal champion by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, while the WBA recognised him as one of its ‘Super champions’, a distinction given to boxers who hold that title in addition to those by other sanctioning bodies in the same division. From 2006 to 2015, Wladimir and his older brother Vitali (himself a former world heavyweight champion) dominated heavyweight boxing, a period typically known as the ‘Klitschko Era’ of the division. May his quotes inspire you to take action so that you may live your dreams.
1. “All of my fights are planned. I study my opponents from A to Z. How he walks, how he looks, how he speaks, gestures of the human body, which is a certain language that provides you lots of information if you have the ability to read it. You just need to pay attention to it and gain experience over the years.” Wladimir Klitschko
2. “If I am 100% prepared for the fight, my opponent has no chance to win the fight. I am saying what I mean: He has a 0% chance to win the fight. There is going to be no luck involved; there is going to be nothing else to stop me from winning the fight.” Wladimir Klitschko
3. “I train six days a week for four to five hours a day. I like to keep the same schedule when I’m in camp for every fight.” Wladimir Klitschko
4. “I don’t care where people come from. It is not important to me. If you are good, people will like you, if you’re not, they won’t. It is simple.” Wladimir Klitschko
5. “Mental strength is really important because you either win or lose in your mind. And I’m not solely talking about sporting matches, and boxing events – anything you do, you do it first with your mental strength. And you can actually train and develop it, and I am responsible for what I’m saying because I have experience with that.” Wladimir Klitschko
6. “When people are tipsy, they’re really encouraged and they wanna prove they can do something to the Heavyweight champion.” Wladimir Klitschko
7. “Sometimes it’s boring because it takes time, but it’s enjoyable. So beating up people for a living is really fun.” Wladimir Klitschko
8. “I don’t like to get hit, who likes it? I probably wouldn’t do this sport if I was getting hit that much.” Wladimir Klitschko
9. “You lose or you win the fight – and anything in life – in your mind. I can look at how the person walks, how he speaks, his expressions. It’s a wisdom. Eyes are the mirror of the soul. So you can read a lot.” Wladimir Klitschko
10. “I would compare it to an actor. I drive myself into the character that later on is in the ring.” Wladimir Klitschko
11. “The first thing I learned in boxing is to not get hit. That’s the art of boxing. Execute your opponent without getting hit. In sports school, we were putting our hands behind our backs and having to defend ourselves with our shoulders, by rolling, by moving round the ring, moving our feet.” Wladimir Klitschko
12. “I prepare for my fights so well that I don’t wanna give a chance to my opponent to crash my ‘glass chin’ as they say, so I’m knocking them in the way that I like.” Wladimir Klitschko
13. “In the old days, when Muhammad Ali was fighting Ken Norton, Joe Frazier and George Foreman, there was a lot of excitement in the heavyweight division, I have to admit it.” Wladimir Klitschko
14. “Aggression means emotions. Emotions mean you’re gonna get off your plan and that means you’ll lose the fight.” Wladimir Klitschko
15. “You can train your mental strength just like you train your body. If your body looks fit or ripped, it looks strong, and you can flex your muscles. So, physically, you have certain strength. Mentally, it’s the same thing. You can train your psychological strength.” Wladimir Klitschko
16. “You have to learn the opponent psychologically inside out and mental strength is one of the important makers. You’re either gonna break it or make it.” Wladimir Klitschko
17. “The reality of growing up is we changed schools so many times, my brother was my best friend. We have a five-year age gap, and my brother inspired me. He started boxing, and I just want to show that I could do things better than him.” Wladimir Klitschko
18. “My father told and taught me that – The word can hit harder than the fist.” Wladimir Klitschko
19. “Politics is comparable to boxing. The only thing is that in politics there are basically no rules. In boxing, you can get a black eye, but in politics you can get poison in your food or a bullet. It’s definitely rougher and tougher than other sports.” Wladimir Klitschko
20. “From nothing to everything is a long way; from everything to nothing is one stop.” Wladimir Klitschko
21. “Obsession is love in an extreme shape.” Wladimir Klitschko
22. “Failure is not an option to me.” Wladimir Klitschko
23. “I’m boring but effective.” Wladimir Klitschko
24. “These nuclear plants are more dangerous than people realize.” Wladimir Klitschko
25. “Radiation doesn’t recognize borders. A meltdown in Japan or India, say, is a danger to the whole world. Wind circulates the radiation everywhere. Water quality is affected. We all eat the same fish. We use products from all over the world – if something is contaminated, it will cause harm.” Wladimir Klitschko
26. “There are certain things that you cannot cross, no matter who you are, what you’re doing or where you’re coming from.” Wladimir Klitschko
27. “The man without a chin, no stamina, dead man, broken man, whatever. On your way to the top, you always get some criticism. Criticism is a great motivation.” Wladimir Klitschko
28. “I had to learn what it’s like on the other side.” Wladimir Klitschko
29. “Defeat will help you. I’ve been there and done that. I shook it off and came back stronger. It’s nothing to be scared about.” Wladimir Klitschko
30. “I think that there’s only one nationality and one language in the sport, and you call it performance.” Wladimir Klitschko
31. “When you’re successful for so many years, the scariest part is that you’re getting too comfortable because you’ve had so much success.” Wladimir Klitschko
32. “I learned in my PhD the discipline I needed to be successful. Most boxers are not that disciplined. They have talent, but the self-organization – the ability to schedule yourself and your priorities – is lacking. My studies were about the control of training on both the psychological and the physical side.” Wladimir Klitschko
33. “The whole key is to be honest with yourself, find the weak spots, work on it, get it done.” Wladimir Klitschko
34. “That’s the most terrible mistake you can make: to relax. It’s difficult to become a champion, but it’s more difficult to maintain it for many years because you’re getting too comfortable.” Wladimir Klitschko
35. “Nobody is born as a champion. You have to earn it through hard work. Get started!” Wladimir Klitschko
