Vitali vs. Wladimir: 'Never Say Never'

The chaotic scene outside of Veltins Arena resembles that of a big, rock festival.

Inside the jam-packed, 61,462-seat capacity stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen -- one of the largest sports complexes in Germany -- the wait is over.

The larger-than-life, world champion Klitschko brothers emerge from separate sides of the ring and climb through the ropes to finally determine who is the king of the ring.

If only it weren't fantasy.

"As we've said countless times, it's just not realistic. We promised our mother [Natasha] that the two of us would never fight," said Vitali Klitschko, 38, the World Boxing Council champ.

"She was concerned about us going into boxing from the beginning, but she supports our careers," said Vitali Klitschko, whose brother, Wladimir, is 33. "She would never want to see us fight each other."

Vitali Klitschko comes off of Saturday's 10th-round knockout of Cris Arreola (27-1, 24 knockouts), the man many believed to be the final American hope for a heavyweight world title.

The victory was Klitschko's 37th by knockout, improving his record to 38-2. Vitali will next face Atlanta's 30-year-old Kevin Johnson (22-0-1, nine KOs) at a venue and on a date to be determined.

Wladimir Klitschko (53-3, 47 KOs) holds the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization titles, and is expected to defend against Philadelphia's Eddie Chambers (35-1, 18 KOs) sometime in early 2010.

At Veltins Arena in June, Wladimir thrilled the audience with a ninth-round knockout of previously unbeaten Ruslan Chagaev.

It was an experience trainer Emanuel Steward won't soon forget.

"I've been to a lot of big venues, but never in an arena where there was as much excitement for a fighter as there was for Wladimir that night in Germany," Steward said. "All around us, people were trying to grab Wladimir, just to touch him."

Vitali Klitschko doesn't "want to lose touch with the American boxing fans," but given the cash to be made abroad, "it looks like my next fight will take place in Europe," he said.

Universally regarded as the worlds two best heavyweights, the Klitschkos are the first siblings to wear division title belts simultaneously.

"When we first began in boxing, our first goal was to win an Olympic gold medal. Wladimir did that. Then it was to both win heavyweight titles," said Vitali Klitschko. "But we didn't anticipate that there would be such an outcry for us to fight each other."

The Klitschkos, however, created their own predicament, having wiped out their opposition.

Vitali's last loss was to the now-retired Lennox Lewis in June 2003, and Wladimir's, in April 2004 to Lamon Brewster, whom he has since beaten. Vitali has won his six straight all by KO, and Wladimir, his reeled off 11 straight victories with eight KOs.

"We need one more title to totally control the division," said Vitali Klitschko. "That is our dream."

That means chasing a lucrative bout with "The Russian Giant," seven-foot, World Boxing Association king Nicolay Valuev (50-1, 34 KOs).

"A fight with Valuev would probably be the biggest fight that could be made right now in Europe with either one of the Klitschkos," said Tom Loeffler, manager of the Klitschko's K2 promotions.

"It would get major ratings throughout Europe, in Russia, in the Ukraine and the United States," Loeffler said. "That's a fight HBO should be very interested in broadcasting."

But getting Valuev into the ring could be a tall order.

"[Don] King and [Wilfried] Sauerland are very protective of Valuev, because it's a very valuable asset to have a heavyweight champion. They don't want to lose his title," Vitali Klitschko said of Valuev's promoters. "We'll see what happens with Valuev's next fight, then, maybe, make a unification fight."

But if one of the Klitschkos vanquishes Valuev, won't he, yet again, face the prospect of brother fighting brother?

"It's not likely to happen," said Vitali Klitschko. "But you can never say never."