WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO has hinted he could make a sensational return to the ring – but it would take a whopping £75million payday to lure him out of retirement.
The Ukrainian, 44, retired from the sport in August 2017 – three months after suffering an 11th round TKO loss to Anthony Joshua at Wembley.
Klitschko has repeatedly teased a comeback over the last few years and recently dropped another hint he could return to the ring in a motivational Instagram post.
He said: “I’m sending nothing but positivity and prosperity to all of you, especially those tragically impacted, 2020 punched and humbled all of us to the core.
“You know what people love seeing more than anything in the world? A COMEBACK!
“I want to see you all comeback strong in 2021!”
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Despite being the wrong side of 40, Dr Steelhammer reckons he can still mix it with the heavyweight division’s elite.
Last year, he said: “I still got it. Can I fight? Yes. Right now I keep my options open.
“There is going to be no comeback to come back and to break a jaw… it’s a comeback to break a record.
“Is it appealing? I would say yeah, it’s pretty cool. George Foreman did it. He was 45 I believe when he became champion, and it’s a pretty cool statement.”
In 2019, Klitschko reportedly received a £40million offer from DAZN to lace up his gloves again.
But according to the former unified heavyweight champion’s older brother, Vitali, it will take a whopping £75million offer to tempt out of retirement.
He told Abendzeitung: “When the news came that a TV channel had offered 40million dollars to Wladimir to make a comeback, I called him and asked what was going on.
“He said, “This is an offer that does not really interest me’.
“When, a few weeks later, I was talking about an 80million dollar offer, I called again and asked, “What is the situation now?”
“He said, ‘This is not an offer that changes my mind, maybe I’ll start thinking about it at 100 million dollars’.
“Never say never – and that has not changed in his status as a boxing retiree at the moment.”
