Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (Ukrainian: Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and the current Mayor of Kiev (the capital and largest city in Ukraine), head of the Kiev City State Administration and former professional boxer. He is the leader of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform and a former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament. He is the former WBC, WBO and The Ring magazine heavyweight champion and has been conferred as Champion Emeritus by the WBC. Klitschko became actively involved in Ukrainian politics in 2005 and combined this with his professional boxing career until his departure from boxing mid-December 2013.
Klitschko's younger brother is Wladimir Klitschko.
(boxer) Klitschko was known for his powerful punches and durable chin. With an 87.23% knockout percentage rate, he holds the second best knockout-to-fight ratio of any champion in heavyweight boxing history, after Rocky Marciano's 87.76% and is the 8th longest reigning heavyweight champion of all time. He has never been knocked down in any professional boxing bout. His two losses have come via a shoulder injury during a fight and a deep cut below his eye, which were recorded as RTD and TKO losses. In both fights, however, he was leading on the scorecards. Klitschko was the first professional boxing world champion to hold a PhD degree. His power and his possession of a doctorate have led to his nickname, Dr. Ironfist.