Vitali picks up the belt that Wladimir sought
Vitali Klitschko is interested in fighting Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- He wasn't supposed to be as good as his brother, wasn't supposed to be much of anything at all.
Vitali Klitschko was so awkward that he looked like he was going to fall down every time he threw a punch.
Promoters wanted his younger brother, Wladimir. Vitali came along as part of the package.
Now he's a heavyweight champion, thanks to a dominating win Saturday night over Corrie Sanders that might have given boxing what it desperately needed -- a new name in the heavyweight division.
Dream realized
"It was my dream and goal to be world champion," Klitschko said. "I worked so long time for it, seven years. Right now I'm really happy."
Fighting in his adopted hometown, Klitschko stopped a battered and bloody Sanders in the eighth round.
He did more than just win the WBC heavyweight title and show that his performance last year against Lennox Lewis was no fluke. He also avenged his family's honor by stopping the fighter who derailed Wladimir's career by knocking him out last year.
Wladimir stood with his brother in the ring before the fight, staring unblinkingly across the ring at Sanders. He stood with him afterward, holding the WBC belt.
The left-handed Sanders caught Klitschko with a big left hand late in the first round that sent him across the ring, then spent much of the rest of the fight trying to land the same punch. In between, though, he took a tremendous beating from the 6-foot-7, 245-pound Klitschko.
Klitschko landed more than half of his punches, 230 of the 413 he threw, to only 51 of 229 by Sanders. The only suspense after the early rounds was whether Sanders would land one big left hand to turn the fight around, and he couldn't.
Sanders was bleeding heavily from his nose and left ear, and his face was a battered mess when Klitschko landed a series of six unanswered punches that finally prompted the referee to stop the fight at 2:46 of the eighth round.
"I was surprised he never went down. He took so many punches," Klitschko said.
Though Lewis has given no indication he would return to the ring, Klitschko said he would like the chance to meet him again in what could be a huge money match. Klitschko told Lewis as much when he visited him in the postfight locker room.
"Ten months ago, Lennox Lewis promised me there would be a rematch," Klitschko said. "I told him I hope we can still fight."
Lewis isn't the only one Klitschko is interested in. He wouldn't mind fighting Mike Tyson, who is planning to return to the ring sometime this summer.
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