After 13 successful world title defences in Europe, unified world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will finally make his return to the United States on April 25 when he faces unbeaten challenger Bryant Jennings.
Klitschko's absence from the US is mainly down to two factors - his lucrative television deal in Germany and the lack of credible American challengers - but with Jennings earning the mandatory status for the WBA belt and Deontay Wilder recently claiming the WBC crown, the Ukrainian's appearance at Madison Square Garden has been timed to perfection.
Below, Sports Mole takes a look at Klitschko's previous appearances in the United States.
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After amassing 20 victories during the first 21 months of his professional career, Klitschko finally made his debut in the States in August 1998 when he was paired with Carlos Monroe, a fighter that he had previously beaten by disqualification in his fifth outing. With only one man - Everett Martin - taking Wladimir the distance during his early years, Monroe wasn't expected to last long in Louisiana, but to his credit, he hung around until late in the sixth before eventually succumbing to his opponent's power.
It would be another 15 months before Klitschko would be seen Stateside again for his encounter with former world title challenger Phil Jackson. He was deemed a durable opponent for Wlad in his 31st fight but he was blown away inside two rounds in Las Vegas. Three fights later, Klitschko was given the opportunity to make his debut at Madison Square Garden on the undercard of Lennox Lewis's world title bout with Michael Grant, and he impressed in defending his WBA intercontinental belt against David Bostice.
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After winning the WBO title from Chris Byrd, Klitschko was thrust further into the limelight when he headlined a bill at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas in the summer of 2001. He was successful in his title defence after stopping Charles Shufford in the sixth round before Klitschko ended 2002 with back-to-back victories over Ray Mercer and Jameel McCline in Atlantic City and Vegas respectively.
Klitschko's stock fell in 2003 after Corrie Sanders shocked the world by stopping the champion inside two rounds in Hannover, but a year later, Klitschko returned to Vegas to try to reclaim the belt against Lamont Brewster after the title had been made vacant. The American had put together a string of knockout wins, but despite only suffering two defeats in a 32-fight career, he wasn't expected to deny Klitschko becoming world champion for a second time.
After Wladimir dominated the opening four rounds and had Brewster on the canvas, it appeared as though the contest was heading towards a seemingly inevitable conclusion but in the fifth, Brewster started to trouble Klitschko, who was fading badly. After the Ukrainian ended the round having to be helped off the floor by the referee due to exhaustion, the match was brought to a halt and Brewster was declared as the new champion.
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After returning to action with a success over Davarryl Williamson at Caesars Palace, Klitschko would go on to face the undefeated Samuel Peter in Atlantic City, where he prevailed by three scores of 114-111 to become mandatory challenger for the IBF title, which he claimed off Byrd in Germany. That enabled Klitschko to return to New York to defend his title against Calvin Brock, who was undefeated in 29 outings. He couldn't extend his record for a 30th fight though, after being stopped in the seventh round as Klitschko made the first defence of his title.
Klitschko proceeded to see off Ray Austin before gaining his revenge over Brewster to enhance his standing in the States. His next fight would see him meet Sultan Ibragimov, who was coming off successive wins over Shannon Briggs and Evander Holyfield respectively. Due to the contest being the first heavyweight unification for almost a decade, the fight was highly anticipated but what transpired led to Klitschko's departure from primetime American television.
He comfortably defeated Ibragimov, winning every round against the Russian, but the match itself was a dull affair that resulted in booing from the New York crowd. Many of Klitschko's following fights would follow a similar pattern but after an entertaining bout with Kubrat Pulev in November, Klitschko has admitted that he wants to excite the American audience on his return at the end of April.
