Article:Vladimir Klitschko Much Better Than Muhammad Ali

I really love boxing. This was huge sport in Soviet Union. My friend from army was name Yuri. We both went to army together as young boys to be trained as infantry. Because our schooling was in mechanics, we were spared ground duty in Afghanastan. Instead we spent long hours on base in very hot weather working on ground vehicles. Many hours we spent talking about sports and our favorites were always boxing. Olympic boxing was so much better during days of Soviet Union compared to now. Then, they fought hard and well. Today, too much padding around head and no more knockouts. Best matchups were always against Americans. Almost always, Soviet Union won but not all the time. Gold medal in boxing always mean becoming huge hero in Soviet Union. Klitschko and Ali have many similarities. Both were considered best of their time. Both win gold medals in Olympics. And both are huge heros in their countries. Klitschko has many homes all over but he will always be Soviet Union to me. His father was important man in army but I did not know him. Klitschko is much taller than Ali and that gives him big advantage over the smaller Ali. Klitschko also much smarter and would find a way to beat Ali. Ali was not that smart. Unlike Klitschko, he never got doctor degree. Ali did not even pass army test and then refused to go into army because of Vietnam. I don't agree with not fighting for your country. In Soviet Union, this is act of traitor. People just didn't do this. They go to work camp and never seen again. Yuri hated army but I didn't mind because I was doing my best for Soviet Union. Klitschko is in military family and I like that very much. This makes man stronger in ring. Ali boxed much to long. His last fight was big news in Soviet Union because he was nearly killed. Now he is sick and old. I liked very much how Ali used to talk but it is sad to listen to him now. Even though I did not agree with Ali on war, I understood his big fear of fighting. Not all men can fight in army. I must make it clear that I did not fight in Afghanastan. I had a weapon but never fired it. Instead I worked on cars and trucks for soldiers. I always did my best because they were brave and needed my best work to fight against enemy. It is funny to me that Americans used to hate Soviet Union for fighting in Afghanastan. Huge misunderstanding. Taliban was never freedom fighters like Americans wanted to believe back than. Now America understands that they were terrorists but it is sadly to late. Soviet Union was never fooled by terrorists like United States was at that time. If two countries worked together instead of cold war, maybe no more terrorists today. We will never know but it is what I think. I remember Yuri telling me that Americans were also in Afghanastan helping our enemy but I never saw any so I did not believe him. Instead we talk about boxing because we did not want to fight over politics that we had no control over anyways. We were different in thinking but best of friends. I don't understand why Vladimir changed his name to Wladimir to sound more German. And he fights to much in Germany. Either fight in America for more money or go and fight in Russia to make people very happy. And maybe also in Ukraine which used to be Soviet Union. I think Klitschko could beat Ali in boxing match but I know for sure he would destroy Ali if he was trained during days of Soviet Union. He is perfect in every way. American media don't give him enough respect because he is from old Soviet Union and not United States. If Klitschko was from USA he would be a big hero here. Everybody would love him. This is hard time for me right now. Yuri died from illness in Afghanastan many years ago. No, he was not shot or killed. Just got sick in lungs infection and died in hospital. I promised him to take his wife Olga and young boy Nicolai to United States because he wanted better life for his family. I never wanted to go but my friend needed me to do this. I had no family. So when Gorbachaev allowed us to leave, we did. I never forgot Yuri dreams. Later, Olga marry man fro m Poland and they have children. I moved around a bit and became mechanic again. I also married to a American woman and now have daughter and son. Together we watch Klitschko fight whenever possible. I can not always afford HBO but do the best I can. Life is funny sometimes. You do things that you never thought possible. Yuri died 28 years ago on next Monday. I miss him. He would have loved to watch Klitschko become world champion in boxing. It was his dream. Have a nice weekend everyone. Maybe I write tomorrow if I have time.