The champ’s still fighting
THE UKRAINIAN president is on the ropes partly because he was sparring with the former heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
Vitali Klitschko won 45 of his 47 professional bouts — 41 of them by knockout — and as leader of the opposition Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party he helped lead the charge against his country’s dictatorial leader, Viktor Yanukovych.
Klitschko manned the barricades in Kiev’s central square and was one of the signers of the breakthrough agreement aimed at ending three months of deadly violence — and weakening Yanukovych’s grip on power.
When the revolt against Yanukovych began turning violent, Klitschko displayed in Independence Square the fearlessness he showed in the ring.
“Tomorrow we will go forward together,” he told his followers. “And if it’s a bullet in the forehead, then it’s a bullet in the th f forehead.” h d”
Six-foot-seven and carved out of granite, Klitschko was a fearsome fighter who turned pro in 1996 and was nicknamed “Dr. Ironfist” for his devastating left jab. Klitschko, 42, rocketed to international boxing fame in 2003 when he narrowly lost to then-World Boxing Council champ Lennox Lewis in a brutal title bout that was dubbed the “Battle of the Titans.”
The next year Klitschko became WBC champ when he defeated South African fighter Corrie Sanders.
A married father of three, Klitschko got into politics after Ukraine broke away from the Soviet Union, running three times unsuccessfully to be mayor of Kiev, which is his hometown. Klitschko finally hung up his gloves and vacated his WBC title in December when his country began sliding toward civil war.