Klitschko brothers remain enigmatic

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2002 | 9:44 a.m.

One has a big fight Saturday in Las Vegas and the other has one of equal importance here in March, yet neither Wladimir nor Vitali Klitschko seems overly concerned.

Each pictures himself victorious, and both exhibit a confidence that reflects either enormous self-assurance or surprising naivete, depending on your perspective.

Wladimir dismisses Jameel McCline's prospects in their Saturday fight at Mandalay Bay, and Vitali is reasonably certain he will conquer World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis when they square off March 8 at a local site yet to be determined.

"I can't say it'll be a difficult fight," Wladimir said Tuesday during a conference call, referring to his scheduled 12-round bout with McCline. "I see no chance for my opponent."

Wladimir, 26, is 39-1 with 37 knockouts and is regarded as the better overall fighter of the Ukraine-based Klitschko brothers. Vitali, 31, is 32-1 with 31 KOs.

McCline, 31, is 28-2-3.

"It'll be very interesting for the fans but I'll make my job simple," Wladimir predicts. "I'm stronger and stronger with every fight, every day. This is my time.

"If you see Jameel McCline, he looks like a bodybuilder. But that's not really (ideal) for boxing."

Yet Wladimir concedes that he has added some weight to better prepare for McCline, who will come into the ring around 265 pounds. Wladimir said he'll be between 245 and 250, up from his usual 240.

"If I was fighting (smaller heavyweight) Chris Byrd, I'd take weight off to be faster," Wladimir said. "With McCline, I can have more weight."

While each Klitschko speaks four languages, they sometimes stumble through the translations, yet both made it clear it's more difficult to watch the other in the ring than it is to actually be in the ring and fighting.

"From my experience, it's much, much easier to fight and much more difficult to watch my brother fight," Vitali said. But he will, of course, be ringside at Mandalay Bay for Wladimir's fight with McCline.

Likewise, Wladimir will take in Vitali's fight with Lewis, just as he sat ringside Nov. 23 in Dortmund, Germany, as Vitali stopped Larry Donald in the 10th round of a fairly one-sided match.

With the brothers sharing a trainer, Fritz Sdunek, and their training schedules overlapping, some complications have existed. Wladimir trained with his brother in Germany for several weeks but has been training in Las Vegas for a week at the IBA gym.

"Wladimir's in top shape and I'm very sure our tactics will mean a victory," Sdunek said. "I don't want him to react, I want him to act and go."

This will be Wladimir's fourth fight in America and second within 16 months at Mandalay Bay, having handled Charles Shufford there last year.

"It's an amazing feeling to be (in Las Vegas) again," he said. "Of course this is a mecca for boxing and to fight here is important for every boxer."

Vitali's fight with Lewis will be in Las Vegas as well, with the details apt to be ironed out within the month. Lewis has charted his 2003 course and it includes Vitali in the spring, Mike Tyson in the summer and Wladimir in the fall.

"I take my chance to fight (Lewis) and I want to beat him," Vitali said. "He has said he'll take one of us for breakfast and one of us for lunch, but I think after breakfast he'll have had enough."

The chess-playing brothers, sons of a Soviet helicopter pilot and his schoolteacher wife, underscored once again that there are no foreseeable circumstances that would ever allow them to fight each other.

"I see no reason to fight my brother," Wladimir said. "It would break my mother's heart."