In Soviet times the border was closed so we couldn't get out of the country, and I had been reading Robinson Crusoe. I wanted to see the ocean, I wanted to see boats, I wanted to see black people, because we didn't have that in the Soviet Union. I was all excited by that stuff.

Wladimir Klitschko

Categorized in : Country Reading Ocean

I'm quite shocked by the recent British media stories about an alleged brawl between myself and Dereck Chisora. I am a professional prize fighter and let my fists do the talking only inside the ring. I don't want to comment on Chisora's psychological issues.

Wladimir Klitschko

issues media talking

Nobody is born as a champion. You have to earn it through hard work. Get started!

Wladimir Klitschko

champion born hard-work

From nothing to everything is a long way, from everything to nothing is one stop.

Wladimir Klitschko

motivation long way

That's the most terrible mistake you can make: to relax. It's difficult to become a champion, but it's more difficult to maintain it for many years because you're getting too comfortable.

Wladimir Klitschko

champion mistake years

Obsession is love in an extreme shape.

Wladimir Klitschko

obsession

Mental strength is really important because you either win or lose in your mind.

Wladimir Klitschko

important mind winning

The whole key is to be honest with yourself, find the weak spots, work on it, get it done.

Wladimir Klitschko

weak-spots keys done

Criticism is a great motivation. Failure is not an option to me.

Wladimir Klitschko

failure-is-not-an-option motivation criticism

You lose or you win the fight - and anything in life - in your mind. I can look at how the person walks, how he speaks, his expressions. It's a wisdom. Eyes are the mirror of the soul. So you can read a lot.

Wladimir Klitschko

fighting eye winning

When you're successful for so many years, the scariest part is that you're getting too comfortable because you've had so much success.

Wladimir Klitschko

comfortable successful years

It was like a musician playing notes. Everything we trained worked.

Wladimir Klitschko

fighter musician motivation

Defeat will help you. I've been there and done that. I shook it off and came back stronger. It's nothing to be scared about.

Wladimir Klitschko

stronger done helping

When people are tipsy, they're really encouraged and they wanna prove they can do something to the Heavyweight champion.

Wladimir Klitschko

champion motivation people

I'm boring but effective.

Wladimir Klitschko

fighter boring motivation

The man without a chin, no stamina, dead man, broken man, whatever. On your way to the top, you always get some criticism. Criticism is a great motivation. Failure is not an option to me.

Wladimir Klitschko

motivation broken men

I learned in my Ph.D. the discipline I needed to be successful. Most boxers are not that disciplined. They have talent, but the self-organization - the ability to schedule yourself and your priorities - is lacking. My studies were about the control of training on both the psychological and the physical side.

Wladimir Klitschko

organization successful self

It's not my place to compare myself to greats like Tyson, Frazier or men like that. But I would look at a fighter like Evander Holyfield. He's a great heavyweight who worked his way up through the weight classes to become champion and had to beat bigger men along the way.

Wladimir Klitschko

champion class men

Mental strength is really important because you either win or lose in your mind. And I'm not solely talking about sporting matches, boxing events - anything you do, you do it first with your mental strength. And you can actually train and develop it, and I am responsible for what I'm saying because I have experience with that.

Wladimir Klitschko

boxing winning talking

The man wannabe actually...a wannabe. David Haye's a wannabe.

Wladimir Klitschko

fighter motivation men

All of my fights are planned. I study my opponents from A to Z. How he walks, how he looks, how he speaks, gestures of the human body, which is a certain language that provides you lots of information if you have the ability to read it.

Wladimir Klitschko

fighting body looks