It is being reported on another sight. I think we all sensed this coming. There just isn't anyone out there for him. He could hang around for Haye should he beat Chisora, but even this is no great feather in his cap.
The boxing world will weep when he finally does hang em up (except for the racists) It has been truly an honor watching his era of dominance, thank your Vitali. You are an inspiration to all boxers and an honorable champion.
Doesn't make his legacy, however Haye would probably be the best win of his career (Haye is a better fighter than Sam Peter). It would certainly enhance his legacy.
Of course his boxing career will end soon...he will be 41 in July. Even if he were to hang them up today, what a career it has been. And what a great comeback after the layoff. Bittersweet.
Agree with this. Vitali has no decent name on his record. Haye would be his greatest win which is sad of a fighter with such an era of dominance. Not that I blame him in any way.
Word on the street is that he was planning on fighting Haye in September. He has an election for something in the Ukraine in October and if he wins he retires. The Haye fight was pretty much planned out until the brawl in Munich. If Haye beats Chisora in July I expect a fight with Vitali late September.
He could fight until he was 50. There is no doubt that he would beat the Bermain Stiverns, the Seth Mitchells, and even The Alexander Povetkins of the world with little problem. If he did start to feel his age, there are tons of other over 40 heavies out there, and he could do like Holmes and take some old guy fights. Holyfield, Toney, Bowe, Golata, Tua, Ruddock, Maskaev (who did some talking recently), Rahmen, etc. But, alas, its his decision.
A succession of unfortunate injuries and this ****** deprived Vitali from having a lot more & more significant scalps like Rahman's This content is protected Even now, I bet his retirement is prompted by the rotator cuff injury that is STILL bugging him after all these years, hence the one armed performance against Chisora If only Chris Byrd hadn't been so slick that night...and if only Vitali wasn't so discombobulatingly strong to the point of hurting himself by missing punches, all history would have been different, Vitali would probably be holding almost all the belts instead of Wlad :? That's not the Klitschko style, the Klitschko style is to fight the best, if Vitali is aware that he cant compete at the highest level anymore then he'll retire for sure.
No, he absolutely doesn't. Beating that over-hyped, loud-mouth'd **** would prove nothing. I hope Vitali retires this year, with dignity. It would be great if he then put his time, money, and general smarts into making boxing a better sport. maybe by starting a new sanctioning organization, or working with one of the smaller promoters like Universum, (putting deals together with Epix, Showtime, & HBO) or....