Former world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko finds himself amid escalating tensions in Europe as the Mayor of Kyiv in Ukraine.
Vitali Klitschko, a two-time WBC heavyweight ruler and former WBO top division titleholder in boxing, took office in his native Ukraine to help bring stability to the region.
Voted in by the people to be the Mayor of Kyiv and head of the Kyiv City State Administration in 2014, Klitschko wanted to help fend off a build-up of Russian troops near the country’s border.
For eight years, Klitschko took praise more than once for a stellar job in doing so. However, Klitschko is now powerless to stop the advances of Russian forces and needs help from NATO allies through the world’s superpowers.
A month ago, Vitali told CNN how worried he was about the potential for war to escalate into something bigger.
“If escalation goes up, we have to be ready to defend our independence and integrity of our country. Civil defense also has to be prepared.
“We hope this never happens. This worst case, but we have to be prepared.”
A month on, Klitschko’s worst fears certainly got realized. If things continue down the path, they are currently on. Sanctions may not be enough to halt the involvement of the rest of the world.
WORLD WAR III
Hence, the unfathomable Third World War.
“Without weapons delivering to this region, and without financial support and propaganda, this conflict will never, ever happen.
“Everything happens under control of [the] Russian Federation,” the 50-year-old added.
On Putin’s endgame to stop Ukraine from joining NATO and ultimately move any closer to The West, Klitschko issued a battle cry on the matter.
“In 2014, Ukraine decided to take a European direction of development of our country. It is not [the] Russian Federation. Mr. Putin is not happy with this decision because his idea [is] to rebuild [the] Soviet Empire,” he pointed out.
“We don’t want to be back to [the] USSR. We see our future as [a] democratic European country.”
In reigning as a dominant heavyweight king in 2004 and from 2008 to 2012, Vitali Klitschko gets fondly remembered as a boxing legend.
It seems fate has another plan for ‘Dr. Ironfist’. The former boxer could now get remembered for something far more significant down the road.
World Boxing News has had over one billion views since its inception in 2010. Furthermore, follow on social media @worldboxingnews.
