The two huge men standing shoulder to shoulder in the Associated Press photo taken Sunday in the mayor’s office in besieged Kiev, Ukraine, were instantly recognized by most boxing fans. Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, the sons of a former Soviet officer, are both former heavyweight champions and whenever one was in the ring, the other was always on his corner. Now they are fighting as they never imagined. At stake this time around is not a flashy World Champion belt, but the survival of their country.
Vitali Klitschko has been mayor of Kiev since 2014, two years after leaving a boxing career that earned him an Olympic gold medal and a world title. His brother was arguably even more successful, holding the heavyweight title for 11 years without a defeat. They are a formidable couple, ready to do whatever it takes to defend their country from Russian invaders. This has not included armed combat so far, but both have made it clear that they will fight in the streets if it comes to this. And, in a rich community of Ukrainian boxers, they are not alone.
Vasiliy Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who some consider the best pound for pound boxer in the world, hastily flew home from Greece to don a combat camouflage suit as a member of an army battalion. He was photographed on his official Facebook page over the weekend with a sling assault rifle near Odessa. The current heavyweight champion is also ready to fight. Oleksandr Usyk returned home from London when Russia invaded his country and, instead of preparing for a possible rematch against Anthony Joshua this spring, is preparing to fight the Russians in his homeland. Both are potentially giving up millions of dollars, in Usyk’s case the biggest bag of his career in a rematch with Joshua. But defending a belt and defending a country are two very different things. None of the Ukrainian boxers have ever backed down with boxing gloves. And they show no sign of wanting to give up now. The courage they are showing is the same as they brought to the ring, if not more.