Vitali Klitschko: I want to fight him again. Then, I'd know that I beat him. I actually beat him the last time we fought. Only the cut above my eye stopped me. It was frustrating because the cut wasn't distracting me. I could see everything very clearly. I didn't feel pain. The referee said that the cut was posing a risk. But we take a risk in every fight. I understand how people who were watching the fight became emotional. The cut was so huge, and the cameraman stuck his lens practically right inside the cut. But no one asked me if I was okay or not before they stopped the fight. I could have continued, and I would have won.

PB: Many people see you as an enigma -- an intellectual involved in a violent sport. How do you balance the two?

VK: I don't want to be presented as "the intellectual boxer." You can make a cliché for everything: All politicians are liars, all athletes are dumb. It isn't right. Life is more complicated than that.

PB: How did you become a boxer?

VK: When I was growing up, everyone I knew was a big fan of Muhammad Ali. I started boxing in school when I was 14 years old, just for fun. Then, I started winning championships. And I became a professional boxer. Sports opened up a very bright door in my life. I've had the chance to meet people like Bill Clinton, movie stars and other major athletes. I've traveled all over the world and have really enjoyed myself. But sport is not the only interest in my life. I have many different interests.

PB: Tell us about your interest in chess.

VK: I've played chess with former champion Garry Kasparov. [In a 2001 exhibition, Klitschko lasted 31 moves.] It's a very interesting game, and very interesting people play it. There are many parallels between boxing and chess. You rely on strategy. In boxing, the fight begins a long time before your match. You study your opponent and try to use his weaknesses against him. You think to yourself, "What will I do when he uses this tactic?" And your opponent goes through exactly the same exercise. It's like chess play. You want to think three or four steps ahead of your opponent.

PB: When you're in the ring, where does the anger come from that enables you to hit another man as hard as you can?

VK: The goal of boxing is to knock out your opponent as soon as possible. You have to make yourself angry from one side. You have to be hungry from the other side. You have to be thinking about strategy and skill. There are many, many different points. But after the fight, your opponent is not your enemy. There's respect. I've been able to build friendships with opponents after we've fought.

PB: How do you get past your fear of knowing that when you step into the ring your opponent is going to hit you very hard?

VK: When you're afraid of your opponent, you lose the fight before the fight. After training for a fight, I am 100 percent sure I can beat my opponent. Everybody is afraid of injury. Nobody wants to lose. But I am never afraid of my opponent.

PB: At 6'8", do you think you have an advantage other boxers lack?

VK: I'm not sure. Mike Tyson, for example, is a very short fighter compared to other heavyweights [Tyson is 5'11"], and it never stopped him. Muhammad Ali was about average size [6'3"]. And Lennox Lewis is 6'5", so I don't think one of us has a real advantage over the other. If you have the reach but not the skill or strategy, it won't help you. You have to be able to use your opponent's weaknesses against him.

PB: What are your feelings about the "Great White Hope" label?