Vitali Klitschko

Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko (Ukrainian: Віталій Володимирович Кличко [wiˈtɑl⁽ʲ⁾ij woloˈdɪmɪrowɪtʃ klɪtʃˈkɔ]; born 19 July 1971), known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who has served as the mayor of Kyiv since 2014. He previously served as the head of the Kyiv City State Administration until the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

As a professional boxer, Klitschko won multiple world heavyweight championships. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title from 1999 to 2000, the Ring magazine title from 2004 to 2005, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) title twice between 2004 and 2013. Overall, he defeated 15 opponents in world heavyweight title fights, and made 12 successful title defences. In 2011, Vitali and his younger brother Wladimir Klitschko entered the Guinness World Records as brothers with most world heavyweight title fight wins (30 at the time; 40 as of 2020). From 2006 until 2015, Vitali and Wladimir (also a multiple world champion) dominated heavyweight boxing, a period widely known as the "Klitschko Era" of the division. Klitschko's last fight was in 2012, but he remained the WBC heavyweight champion at age 42 when he announced his retirement in December 2013. Though both of his losses were by stoppage—specifically by corner retirement—Klitschko is only the third heavyweight champion to have finished his boxing career without being knocked down, after Nikolai Valuev and Oliver McCall, and he is thus known for having one of the toughest chins in boxing history.