Background
Dimitrenko was born in Crimea, Ukraine.
Dimitrenko was born in Crimea, Ukraine.
He was immediately offered a deal by German promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl after his victory. Dimitrenko signed with Kohl"s Universum promotion company and emigrated to Hamburg, Germany to begin his professional career. At 6 ft 7 with solid footwork and impressive power, he is widely regarded as one of the top contenders for the future world title.
Dimitrenko began his career on December 8, 2001 by scoring a 4th-round TKO against Marcus Johnson at the Arena Oberhausen in Oberhausen, Germany.
On November 6, 2004, Dimitrenko faced the man who gave Wladimir Klitschko his first professional loss, Ross Puritty. By winning a 10 round decision over Puritty, Dimitrenko passed what was seen as his first real test.
The fight was stopped in the fifth round, giving Dimitrenko his fourth consecutive victory by T.K.O. and was the sixth title defense of his WBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight belt. On July 4, 2009, he fought Eddie Chambers and lost by majority decision.
He received a standing 8 count in the seventh round, and was knocked down in the tenth.
Dimitrenko resides in Hamburg, Germany and is trained by Klitschko-brother trainer Fritz Sdunek. He gained German citizenship by naturalisation in November 2010.