Joshua vs Klitschko: Uncovering the forgotten story of the Englishman who KO'd Klitschko
"He looked at me and said: 'maybe we'll fight again'. I haven't seen him since."
Saturday 22 April 2017 14:13, UK
There is an urban myth, whispered quietly in gym corridors but kept hushed in elite boxing circles, about an English fighter who knocked out Klitschko.
Years before Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko had even laced a pair of boxing gloves they fought barefoot, wearing head-guards, at kickboxing tournaments. This phase of their careers has largely been consigned to history due to their success in heavyweight boxing over the past 20 years but the rumours about one brutal defeat have never gone away.
Perhaps because the Klitschkos haven't been knocked out by any Englishman since - seven have failed although Lennox Lewis beat Vitali by stoppage due to a cut eye and Tyson Fury ended Wladimir's reign - and maybe because of the Aladdin's treasure chest of gold around their waists, this ultimate underdog's tale has rarely been told.
What Birmingham's Pele Reid achieved when he crossed paths with Vitali at the 1992 European Kickboxing Championships should have become legend but has fizzled into myth.
"There were posters of Vitali all over the stadium," Reid exclusively told Sky Sports. "He was the super-heavyweight world champion, he was well-known.
He stood head and shoulders above me. The night before, he looked at me, smiling, to say: 'you're nothing'.
"Ukraine had broken away from USSR and were dominating the tournament, destroying everybody. They were obliterating opponents. I won my category and Vitali won his.
"He stood head and shoulders above me. The night before, he looked at me, smiling, to say: 'you're nothing'. I was sat down, he walked past, I looked up and thought 'we'll see'."
Reid's name is more familiar on the domestic boxing scene - he amassed a 20-6-2 record fighting out of Brendan Ingle's gym and competed in a 2008 Prizefighter. His three most well-known opponents were Michael Sprott, Sam Sexton and Julius Francis - all of whom defeated Reid, whose heart remained in martial arts - "I never forgot watching Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan as a kid."
Vitali, by contrast, evolved into one half of the most fearsome brotherly duo in boxing and won the world heavyweight title before hanging up his gloves in 2012 after a nine-year undefeated run. That night in 1992, aged 21, he was less successful.
"He started punching and I was moving around," Reid remembered. "I stayed out of the way. I knew that if he touched me, I was finished. In the second round I knew he'd come for me.
"He punched, I span to block it and hit him with a spinning kick. That was it. He was on the floor for ages.
"The rules were that we weren't supposed to go for knockouts. But the judges deliberated that, because it was a clean technique, I became European champion.
"Nobody knew about Vitali at this point. I felt it was meant to be. That day, I missed my taxi to the stadium but it seemed as though I just had to be there."
The knockout win for the Great Britain representative would be no indication of their future paths. As Vitali won his first world title in 1999, Reid lost his perfect record to three consecutive stoppages. When Vitali lost to another Englishman in Lewis, Reid was on a four-year hiatus from fighting altogether.
Vitali looked at me and said: 'maybe we'll fight again'. I haven't seen him since.
Vitali denies knowledge of the KO loss in his amateur kickboxing days. That brings a chuckle from Reid, who recalls the only other time he came face to face with the Ukrainian.
"The next time I saw Vitali, I was boxing in Germany. I won, and afterwards, I said to Brendan 'that's the guy I knocked out!'
"But there were two of them! I didn't know Vitali had a little brother. Brendan called them over, Vitali looked at me and said: 'maybe we'll fight again'. I haven't seen him since."
That little brother, Wladimir, will become the most stringent examination of Anthony Joshua's career next weekend when they collide, live on Sky Sports Box Office, with IBF and WBA gold on the line. Pele Reid, having tracked him down, prefers to keep his knockout of Klitschko a secret but Joshua will have no such luxury if he repeats the feat at Wembley Stadium.
