Sports

Boxing

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — On Vitali Klitschko’s days away from training for his next heavyweight title fight, he takes his wife and three children to the Beverly Center mall or down to the Malibu coast. He also ends up fairly often at Disneyland, even though he’s too big to ride the Matterhorn.

Whether he’s toiling away in a cramped Hollywood gym or hanging with Mickey and Minnie, Klitschko clearly enjoys every opportunity afforded by his particular American dream. He still remembers his first trip to California in 1988, when he had the reaction shared by millions over the past century.

“Wow, this is a great city,” Klitschko recalls thinking. “There are very friendly people, and I like the ocean very much. I decided if I move to the U.S., I would like to live in L.A. It’s the best.”

Klitschko now makes his home in one of Los Angeles’ ritziest neighborhoods, but he also lives in Hamburg, Germany, and his native Ukraine. With sport, politics and family all pulling at him, the 38-year-old Klitschko has been grateful to settle in Los Angeles long enough to focus on the next step in a boxing career that seems revitalized just a few short months after it seemed over.

“It’s very important to have a dream,” Klitschko said. “Without dreams, life is boring. When pro boxing was forbidden in the Soviet Union, I still saw Mike Tyson win the world championship, and that was great for me. My brother and I, we had a dream together. We made that dream come true. Right now, we have control of the heavyweight division. I think about it every day.”

Klitschko (37-2, 36 KOs) is favored to defend his WBC title against Chris Arreola on Saturday night at Staples Center. After ending nearly four injury-plagued years away from boxing with impressive wins over Samuel Peter and Juan Carlos Gomez in the past year, Klitschko is determined to make up for the time he lost.

“I never gained weight while I was injured, because I care about what food I eat,” Klitschko said. “Sport style is my lifestyle. My parents gave us a very good education on that.”