Thu, 14 Jul 10:33:00 2011
The father of heavyweight boxing champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko has died at the age of 64 after a long battle with illness.
Wladimir Klitschko Rodionovic played a key role in the clean-up of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in his native Ukraine in 1986 when he was working as a colonel in the Soviet Air Force.
He has been suffering with cancer for a long time but it has been reportered that he was able to watch his son Wladimir beat David Haye from a hospital bed in Hamburg on July 2.
He was then moved to Kiev where he spent the final days of his life.
A statement from the family said: "Wednesday, July 13, after a long and severe illness died Wladimir Klitschko Rodionovich, father of boxing world champion Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko.
"Wladimir Rodionovich for his life raised two sons and three grandchildren. Colonel of the Air Force, he was a lifelong devoted service in the army, took an active part in the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant."
The brothers have postponed all their ongoing promotional work after learning of the news.
Vitali junior is currently preparing to defend his WBC title against Tomasz Adamek in Poland this September.
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