Vladimir Klitschko in Hamburg

by Frederic Friedel
9/30/2025 – In the boxing ring, he learned what it means to pick yourself up again and again and draw new strength from setbacks. On 7 October, former world boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko will tell us about his life, the current situation in Ukraine and resilience in times of crisis. Vladimir is an old friend who visited ChessBase a number of times, together with his brother Vitaly. We look forward to seeing him again.
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Great personalities inspire – and rarely has anyone mastered as many challenges as Dr Wladimir Klitschko has faced. On Sunday afternoon he will speak at the live at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. 

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Wladimir Klitschko from Ukraine is widely recognized as one of the greatest heavyweight champions in history. He held world titles from 2000 to 2015 and dominating the sport, alongside his brother Vitali, during the "Klitschko Era". For over a decade they redefined the heavyweight division, setting records for world title wins.

After retirement Klitschko earned a PhD in Sports Science and is recognized for his entrepreneurial activities and humanitarian work. He founded and leads organizations such as K2 Promotions, Klitschko Management Group, and the Klitschko Foundation, which supports children in Ukraine and beyond. Klitschko became a public speaker, author, and educator, advocating for resilience through his "FACE the Challenge" method. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine Wladimir Klitschko’s role has dedicated himself to defending Ukraine and raising global awareness about the conflict.

The older brother, Vitali Klitschko, is the current mayor of Kyiv and has held the position since 2014, continuing as one of Ukraine's most senior politicians and public officials. 

There is a Sky Original film about the Klitschko brothers, titled "Klitschko: More Than a Fight". It highlights their role during the Russian invasion. Here's the official trailer:

Klitschkos at ChessBase

In 2002 the Klitschko brothers visited our office in Hamburg. As avid chess fans they took on some friendly games against Fritz, which offered a draw in a winning position. Talk about machine intelligence! Read about it in our illustrated report. 

The two even supported Vladimir Kramnik in his famous match against Deep Fritz. Above you see them in the ChessBase office in Hamburg, analysing and chatting with Frederic Friedel, who was in Bahrain, reporting on the match. Here's the report we filed at the time, and here links to a couple of our Klitschko stories:

Editor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.