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"Well, Hide, You Got Your Comeuppance"

13 July, 00:00

By Oleksandr HONCHARUK, Petro MARUSENKO, The Day When an elegantly dressed Vitaly Klychko, with the face and steady gait of a champion, stepped down from the airliner arriving from Frankfurt, it became clear a champion had come. Addressing a press conference at the Kyiv City Administration, Vitaly said, "Ukraine is now known primarily for its athletes. Maybe we will live to see a time when it will also be known for its politicians and businesspeople."

"Vitaly, quite a lot has been written about Hide's boorish behavior. What else happened before the bout?"

"In general, the British gave me a far from gentlemanly welcome. I was accommodated in a 3 x 1.5 meter hotel room, with the bed taking up a third of the floor area. With my stature, I had problems with sleeping well. So I had to move to a more suitable hotel without prior notice. And in the old hotel, as my friends, who stayed behind told me, the fire alarm went off at night, and the occupants were kept outdoors for several hours."

"What did you say to Hide when you bent over him?"

"I am not a mean person. But I really got sick of all his bragging at my expense. So I said to him, 'Well, Hide, you got your comeuppance'."

"You rarely come back without Volodymyr."

"My brother is getting ready for the intercontinental champion's title bout with Joseph Chingangou from Zaire to be held on July 17. And on September 25 he will fight the great German Axel Schulz for the championship of Europe. As you know, Schulz has repeatedly dodged the encounter, but it would have been indecent to keep refusing."

"What are your next plans?"

"I will be defending my title in bouts with any top ten WBO boxers. The No. 1 man is Mike Tyson. Of course, I would also like to challenge for the title of undisputed world champion, no matter who I fight against, Lewis Lennox or Evander Holyfield."

"Last year you presented Kyiv with the Intercontinental Championship belt and promised to present the belt of the World Champion. You kept your promises. What are you going to promise now?"

"Volodymyr and I have a plan to hold a world champion bout in Kyiv in a stadium. We plan to carry this out next year."

Author

Vitaly Klychko

Newspaper output №:

№26, (1999)

Section

Society