Klitschko (2011) – Wladimir & Vitali Documentary Review – BOXING NEWS
By Geno McGahee
The brothers Klitschko have ruled boxing for the last 10 years, holding onto all of the available and respected heavyweight titles and defeating all challengers along the way. The Klitschkos have not caught on as they probably should have in the states due to their dominance in the ring. There aren’t any challengers that are even close to defeating them and the days of Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield are long gone. Wlad and Vitali are too good for their own good.
KLITSCHKO is a documentary, written and directed by Sebastian Dehnhardt, and follows the brothers from their humble beginnings, successes, failures, and more. The footage compiled in this film and presented gives the audience a great window into the lives of these two brothers as the take on the world of boxing.
The coolest thing in this 2 hour documentary is the evolution of Wladimir Klitschko and how he went from a fighter that was written off to the undisputed king of the hill. Wlad’s knockout loss to Corrie Sanders, followed by a knockout loss to Lamon Brewster was the end of his boxing career it seemed, especially when a brain bleed was suspected. It turned out that the event was the moment that Wlad needed to separate from his older brother to be his own man and take over the sport in his own way.
Vitali as well had his battle with the media after a TKO loss to Chris Byrd, where he retired after an injury. A gallant effort against one of the best fighters of his time, Lennox Lewis, turned it all around, but it took that to get him back onto the map. The brothers prove very different and very alike. Their journeys have had similar pitfalls and victories, had arguments and did soul searching, but they came back together and collectively took over the sport, making history in more than one way.
Prior opponents, family members and media people all speak of the impact that the brothers had on their lives and the sport of boxing. KLITSCHKO is a great documentary and it’s just a shame that the two brothers didn’t become the superstars that their talents deserve in the states. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 9/10
