Wladimir Klitschko was a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division. Nicknamed Dr. Steelhammer, he had 53 KOs to his 64 wins, and one opponent was just five seconds away from changing this statistic.
Wladimir Klitschko retired in 2017 after back-to-back defeats to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Prior to his loss to Fury in 2015, Klitschko hadn’t lost since 2004 when he faced Lamon Brewster, a loss he later avenged.
Klitschko was one of the best pound-for-pound talents of his era, and finished many of his opponents, even in the closing seconds of their fights.
Wladimir Klitschko sends opponent through the ropes in final 5 seconds of their fight
On this day, 15 years ago, 53-3 Klitschko, who wants to fight for a title again at the age of 48, defended his IBF, WBO, Ring and Lineal heavyweight titles against then 35-1 Eddie Chambers in Germany.
Klitschko, who was once knocked off a paddle-board by Shannon Briggs, landed a big right hand on Chambers in the second round, but despite staggering, Chambers managed to stay upright and fight on.
The fight lasted all the way up to the final round, and looked certain to go the distance. However, in the final five seconds of the last round, Klitschko produced a damaging left hook that sent Chambers out cold onto the canvas and through the ropes.
Klitschko was champion for over 4000 days
Klitschko, who once lost his title in a major upset to Corrie Sanders, will go down as a generational great, an all-time hall-of-famer in the glamour division of giants, but one of his most impressive accolades isn’t how he became champion, but how he was champion for twelve years.
Klitschko holds the record for the longest cumulative heavyweight title reign at 4,382 days.
In that time he defeated the likes of David Haye, who fought a goliath turned politician in Nikolai Valuev, Alexander Povetkin, Kubrat Pulev, and even in his final fight, after being dropped three times, Klitschko went out on his feet against Joshua in one of the greatest fights of the century.