KLITSCHKO BROTHERS STILL FIGHTING FOR UKRAINE, TOO
When Wladimir Klitschko was told by his brother, Vitali, he would be fighting for their country during his world heavyweight boxing title attempt Saturday, it was more than empty rhetoric or encouragement.
Wladimir Klitschko ( 64- 4, 53 KOs) battles Britain’s Anthony Joshua ( 18- 0, 18), who is 14 years younger and the favorite, at Wembley Stadium in a showdown that will shape the immediate future of the heavyweight division.
Yet the Klitschko family is mired in another fight, one far more fraught with emotion and resonance than even the drama of a title blockbuster. It plays out in their homeland, Ukraine, where Vitali Klitschko is the mayor of capital city Kiev and a prominent political figure at a tumultuous time for the former Soviet- bloc nation.
“Vitali is in a much bigger fight than he’s ever been in his career,” Wladimir, 41, said days before he will seek to become the IBF and WBA titleholder after a 22- fight, 10- year winning streak as champion ended with defeat to Tyson Fury in late 2015. Before his final fight in 2012, Vitali, 45, racked up a 13- bout, nine- year winning streak while maintaining a stranglehold on the WBC heavyweight title.
“( Politics is) something where you don’t have to think about just one opponent,” Wladimir added. “Boxing, there are rules. Politics, there are flexible rules, and you don’t see your opponents standing in the ring.”
Ukraine is a nation with deep divisions that, broadly speaking, revolve around the ideological debate about whether the country should seek closer ties with Western Europe and the European Union or with Russia.
After the Ukrainian revolution in 2014, the Crimea region was annexed by Russia on the orders of Vladimir Putin. Fear of military aggression and political pressure from Moscow persists. Vitali will be in Wladimir’s corner Saturday but will return to Kiev immediately afterward.
Vitali was a key figure in the civil upheaval of 2014, dealing with activists during the infamous Maidan protests in which thousands of Ukrainians descended upon Kiev’s Independence Square to rail against the government before receiving brutal treatment from the police.
He is talked about as a future president of Ukraine. Like many of his countrymen, he is deeply concerned about Putin’s intentions. “I understand that somebody on our borders wants to rebuild a big empire,” Vitali said. “We do not relish this idea. We do not want to be taken back into the Soviet Union. My Ukraine sees its future as part of the European family. This is the biggest challenge of my life.”
Both men could have settled for the easy life, but that is not their style. Wladimir’s post- boxing career is more likely to involve a supporting role to his brother’s political aspirations than a direct position himself. “I’m very proud of my brother and how he’s doing his job in such a difficult, geopolitical, economical atmosphere as we have in the Ukraine,” Wladimir said. “Every day, every hour, every second, he’s responsible for 5 million people.”
Fighting — whether it be for pride, freedom, redemption or the future of their country — is in the Klitschko blood.