Becoming first ever boxing champion elected mayor of the capital city of Kiev will challenge political newcomer Vitali Klitschko with national spotlight amid Ukraine’s continuing crisis

Ukraine boxing hero Klitschko claims Kiev mayor seat

From the English language about page at Klitschko’s website:

Ukraine’s burly boxing hero and strident protest leader Vitali Klitschko claimed victory Sunday in Kiev mayoral vote that cements his role as a statesman for the country’s post-Soviet generation. “All change will begin in Kiev,” the former heavyweight and boxing champion Mayor of Kiev said.

“All I can do is to fight every opponent who gets into my way, to always compete with the best and thus being the best champion possible. History will assign my place in the saga of boxing”, says Wladimir Klitschko, official WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and “The Ring Magazine” heavyweight champion of the world who is also ruled as undisputed No. 1 in the heavyweight division by the bible of boxing, the “Ring Magazine”.

As an amateur Wladimir Klitschko won 134 of his 140 fights. Undoubtedly, his greatest achievement was the Olympic gold medal in the super heavyweight division in Atlanta 1996. After that he decided to move into professional boxing. 1999 Wladimir became European Champion when beating German Axel Schulz. In 2000, Wladimir got his first title shot against WBO Champion Chris Byrd. In that fight, Wladimir was seeking revenge for his older brother Vitali who had to give up his fight against Byrd because of a shoulder injury six months before, thus losing the WBO title to the American. Wladimir won on points getting the belt back in the family. For more than two years, he was then holding it until he was surprisingly defeated by Corrie Sanders. Another defeat within 12 months (against Lamon Brewster) meant the low point in Wladimir’s career. Many experts (including his brother Vitali) advised Wladimir to quit with boxing.

But ever since the beginning of his impressive career, Klitschko proved to be a real champion with the will to always measure up with the best. He did not think about giving up but wanted to show the world that he is a real champion. That is why he picked – just one year after his serious defeat against Brewster – nobody else than the “Nigerian Nightmare” Samuel Peter, who was known as the hardest puncher in the division at that time. Since years it was the first time again that Wladimir was not the favourite going into the fight. Anyway, Klitschko won on points after being down three times, whereas he nearly knocked out Peter himself in the final round. Klitschko was back and got a title shot against IBF world heavyweight champion Chris Byrd. Klitschko dominated the fight and knocked Byrd out in round 7.

Klitschko became the new IBF world heavyweight champion and also captured the vacant IBO title. This fight was followed by a crushing KO against undefeated Calvin Brock, America’s great hope in heavyweight boxing. Ringside at Madison Square Garden the great Muhammad Ali. In the rematch against Brewster, Klitschko showed his power and predominance which resulted in a clear victory. In February 2008, again at Madison Square Garden, Klitschko faced WBO champion Sultan Ibragimow in the first title reunion in the heavyweight division since 1999. Wladimir controlled his opponent and the entire fight to become a three time world heavyweight champion.

Tony Thompson, WBO’s No. 1, was next to challenge Klitschko but he hit the canvas after another demonstration of Klitschko in round 11. IBF’s number 1, Alexander Povetkin, was scheduled for Klitschko at the end of 2008 but the Russian had to withdraw due to a foot injury. Klitschko – determined to fight – chose more than an easy replacement: Two time world heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, who knocked out Lennox Lewis in 2001. The fight ended with another KO victory to the account of Klitschko.

In 2009, Wladimir was supposed to meet David Haye in the ring for the first time. Within record time the 61.000 tickets at the soccer stadium “Schalke Arena” were sold out, but Haye blew off the bout due to an injury. Again, Klitschko did not want to cancel the event and disappoint his fans. He knew he is physically and mentally prepared to beat a great champion. That is why he took on undefeated WBA titlist Ruslan Chagaev. Klitschko won with an amazing demonstration of his power – despite a torn ligament in his shoulder. “I tried everything but was left without any chance”, said unbeaten Chagaev after the fight. “Klitschko is a great champion.” “Fast” Eddie Chambers came next for Wladimir. The US American was known as the quickest fighter in the division. Anyway, he was not fast enough for Klitschko who landed his steelhammer just seconds before the final bell celebrating another spectacular knockout victory. Samuel Peter in a rematch fight was the next for Wladimir. In the sold out football arena of Frankfurt (Germany) in front of 44,000 spectators he showed a dominating performance resulting in a knockout victory in round 10.

On July 2, 2011 Wladimir made boxing history when winning against British fighter David Haye in a unanimous decision to capture the WBA belt. The Klitschkos were the first siblings to unify all heavyweight belts under one family name! By then, Wladimir was WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and “The Ring Magazine” World Heavyweight Champion while his older brother Vitali held the WBC title.

Since then Wladimir successfully defended his titles against Jean-Marc Mormeck (March 2012), Tony Thompson (July 2012), Mariusz Wach (November 2012), Francesco Pianeta (May 2013), Alexander Povetkin (October 2013) and Alex Leapai (April 2014).

Klitschko proves to be a champion inside the ring, but also shows the heart of a champion outside the ring. After his knockout triumph against Brock in November 2006, Wladimir donated 285.000 Dollars of his purse to UNESCO. The money was spent for the project “Education for Children in Need” to build schools in Namibia.

In 2006, the brothers Klitschko were honored by UNESCO as “Champion of Sports” for their social commitment. An honor that was bestowed only to a few sportsmen before: amongst them Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher and pole vault icon Sergey Bubka.

Money raised, e. g. through the auction of the fight robe of the unification fight against Ibragimow, went into sports and youth centers in New York and Berlin. “Kids that live on the streets can learn martial arts from qualified teachers and trainers. Doing sports trains physically, but also positively affects one’s mind and character. I like the saying: ‘A healthy mind in a healthy body’. That’s how we want to enable and support kids that don’t have much hope”, says Klitschko.

Creating opportunities is what drives the Klitschko brothers. After Wladimir’s win of the Olympic gold medal in 1996, the brothers established a foundation in their home country Ukraine to support underprivileged children. The foundation advocates HIV prevention and fight against drugs. They also started projects in Romania and Brazil into being. “We are always ready to help – and to fight for others”, says Wladimir.

Another of those fights was for democracy in the Ukraine. When the movement started off in 2004, Wladimir flew over to Kiev to support the “Orange Revolution” in their peaceful campaign. He won people’s hearts for his cause and committed stars like Boris Becker, Franz Beckenbauer, Sting, Joe Cocker and famous German TV anchor Thomas Gottschalk. Furthermore, Germany’s former Federal President Johannes Rau appointed the Klitschkos to “Ambassadors for Integration”. “People around the world have many more commonalities than aspects that distinguish them. We have to emphasize on the commonalities”, says Wladimir.

Wladimir lives a multifaceted life: He is social ambassador, extraordinary sportsman and a caring person – a real champion, inside as well as outside the ring.