Ukraine: Vitali Klitschko, former glory of boxing, from mayor to defender of Kiev
Vitali Klitschko in Kiev, February 10, 2022. AFP - SERGEI SUPINSKY
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
3 mins
Mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko entered into resistance and defends his city.
The former heavyweight has been in charge of the city since 2014. Before becoming a politician, Vitali Klitschko was a boxing legend.
Today, he is organizing the resistance against the Russian onslaught.
Advertising
Read more
“
I will defend Kiev, arms in hand
”.
Vitali Klitschko, former world star of boxing, now mayor of the Ukrainian capital, has no intention of letting Russia take his city which has more than three million inhabitants.
The ex-boxer in the heavyweight category, now 50 years old, had already warned before the Russian invasion: "
Any aggressor must know it: it will not be a ride, it will cost him dearly, we we will not surrender
”.
He and his brother Wladimir, also a former boxer, are very listened to in Ukraine, and are able by their notoriety to raise international awareness.
Both grew up in the Chernobyl region where their father, a Soviet general, was in charge of decontaminating the radioactive site.
Candidate for mayor of Kiev since 2006
Vitali Klitschko has
been involved in politics
for nearly fifteen years.
He ran for mayor of Kiev in 2006, before being elected pro-European deputy in 2012. In 2013, the boxer established himself as one of the main leaders of the Euromaidan revolution movement.
For weeks, Vitali Klitschko was the most applauded speaker in Maidan Square.
This reformist, pro-European, quickly became a new voice in the new Ukrainian political landscape.
He even plans to run
for president
.
He finally seized the mayor of Kiev in 2014, and was re-elected twice.
In 2010, Vitali Klitschko created the Oudar – “punch” in Ukrainian – (Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms), the third political party in the country.
For most Ukrainians, Vitali Klitschko is considered a man of integrity.
“
He got rich in an honest way
,” his supporters willingly point out.
He also paid part of his money earned on the rings for the creation of his political party.
“
He may well be one of the only Ukrainians to have become honestly wealthy.
When he talks about fighting corruption, I believe him.
In addition, I am a fan of sports!
declared in December 2013 a young demonstrator to the French daily
Liberation.
Vladimir Klitschko (l) and his brother Vitali.
REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler
Many world heavyweight champion belts
After a largely successful amateur career with 195 wins and 5 losses, he embarked on a professional career when he missed the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 for a nandrolone positive test.
His brother Vladimir finally takes the gold.
During his professional career, Vitali Klitschko won numerous WBO (1999-2000) and WBC (2004-2005, 2008-2013) heavyweight world champion belts with the second highest knockout percentage in history (87.23 %).
“
We will survive!
We will remain standing to show our strength and our courage
, ”says today Vitali Klitschko, who could have lived quietly in Germany, of which he has the nationality.
He spent most of his boxing career across the Rhine.
“[Ukrainians]
will stay true to themselves in this terrible ordeal,
says
too
Vitali Klitschko in a statement.
It is a people who aspire to sovereignty and peace, who consider the Russians as brothers.
»
Born in Belovodskoye in Kyrgyzstan during the time of the Soviet Empire, Vitali Klitschko arrived in Ukraine at the age of 14.
From the height of his 2.02 meters, his imposing stature, he is now leading another fight.
Much more important than the forty-seven professional duels he has played in a ring.
Talks between Russia and Ukraine have started in Belarus at one of President Alexander Lukashenko's residences on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.
"
The key issue is an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of
(Russian) troops
from Ukrainian territory
," said the Ukrainian presidency.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Ukraine
Geopolitics
Sports
Russia