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Vladimir, the younger brother of former WBC champion Vitali Klitschko, dominated the fight, which took place in Mannheim, Germany, from round one. In round three Byrd dropped his hands for a moment and took a pair of hard left-right combinations the bigger and stronger man (6 foot 6 or 2.0 metres, 110 kg). Byrd was knocked down in round five, but survived the barrage of shots that followed. After pounding him for more than a minute Klitschko backed away, but Byrd waved his gloves at him, indicating his opponent should continue coming at him.
Vladimir Klitschko in the fight against Chris Byrd (Photo Reuters/Klitschko)
In the seventh round, finally, Klitschko finished the bout with a flurry of punches that sent Byrd down for the second time. The fight was terminated as a TKO. Byrd was the longest-reigning heavyweight champion, having held the title since 2001.
Two Vlads, two champions: IBF world champion Vladimir Klitschko and classical
chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik immediately after the fight
Chatting backstage with brother Vitaly: Kramnik, Vitaly Klitschko,
Carsten Hensel, Kramnik's manager
The Klitschko brothers are great chess fans and will try to attend the world championship match Kramnik vs Topalov in Elista, Kalmykia, if their schedule permits. Since they live in Germany a visit to the Man vs Machine duel Kramnik vs Deep Fritz in Bonn this November is virtually certain.
Chess and boxing professionals play a game of tandem chess
Vitali Klitschko, Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Leko and Wladimir Klitschko before
the Dannemann World Championship match in Brisago, 2004
The Klitschko brother in the ChessBase office
Vladimir Klitschko plays a friendly game on Playchess.com against fellow Ukrainian
Sergey Karjakin