Vitalii Klychko wins super heavyweight boxing championship (07/04/99)

Vitalii Klychko wins super heavyweight boxing championship

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Vitalii Klychko became the first Ukrainian, as well as the first boxer from the former Soviet Union, to win a world super heavyweight boxing championship when he knocked out Herbie Hide of England in the second round on June 26 in London.

The 27-year-old Mr. Klychko ended the fight in what has for him become routine fashion: suddenly and quickly.

Building on his growing reputation as the boxing world's most lethal puncher, Mr. Klychko finished World Boxing Organization champion Mr. Hide with a chopping right hand that seemed only to graze the smaller man's jaw but dropped him to the canvas for a count of five. Mr. Hide got up and staggered around the canvas before the referee called the fight after 1 minute 27 seconds of the second round.

Following a shaky first round that saw Mr. Hide land several effective punches, Mr. Klychko came out more aggressively after the break. At the 34-second mark of the second round, the 6-foot, 8-inch challenger floored the champion with a powerful swing of his right hand. The referee was slow to begin the count and Mr. Hide had a chance to regain his composure, for another minute at least.

With the knockout victory, Mr. Klychko's agent, Klaus Kohl, asserted that his boxer has the most dangerous hands in the business. "I told everybody to wait for the first hit by Klychko, then you will see what he is about," said Mr. Kohl, according to the newspaper Den. "He has the best punch of all the heavyweights, and that includes Mike Tyson."

The bout was Klychko's 25th consecutive professional victory - all by knockouts - an accomplishment that surpasses the knockout record set by Mr. Tyson before his career sank amid a series of scandals.

Mr. Klychko received approximately $500,000 for his 4-minute-27-second handling of Mr. Hide at the London Center before 5,000 fans.

With his World Boxing Organization crown, Mr. Klychko becomes one of three super heavyweight champions in the splintered boxing world. He now shares the distinction with Lennox Lewis, champion of the World Boxing Council, and Evander Holyfield, who rules in the World Boxing Association. The latter two fighters face a rematch to unite their two crowns after battling to a draw earlier this year in a controversial match that has been fraught with accusations of impropriety.

Mr. Klychko, who fights for the Universum club in Hamburg, is scheduled to call a press conference upon his return to Kyiv next week, at which time it is expected he will announce his future professional plans and any intention to go toe-to-toe with either of the other two super heavyweight champions.

Tens of thousands of Kyivans who assembled on June 26 in the city's Independence Square had an opportunity to view the Klychko-Hide fight live from London. In celebration of Youth Day, which was observed on the day of the fight, and Constitution Day, commemorated two days later, the city sponsored a series of concerts dubbed "Steps to Victory." The day's events culminated in the showing of the Klychko-Hide fight on a huge screen erected above the square.

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