Vitali Klitschko

“I want to thank the WBC and its president, Don Jose Sulaiman, for the support in our fight for democracy and freedom in Ukraine.”

“I have respect for Chisora as a fighter but not as a human. He set a bad example for boxing and all fighters. He came from Great Britain, but he is not a gentleman.”

“The people are not defending political interests. They are defending the idea of living in a civilized country.”

“I feel great. I feel like I'm in my 20s. I did have a lot of injuries, yes, but I feel great now. I think the path that I had did good things to my body and also my mind. I came back very motivated.”

“I feel like I am the strongest man in the world.”

“I have experience of boxing. I know what it is like to be hit. Half my life is boxing. I start fighting when I am 16.”

“The Soviet system is how everything here works. It's very difficult to break the system. The system is big and inflexible, uneffective, and also corrupt. And that is our main goal: to change the system, to break the system, to make it modern.”

“It's just not normal when one after another opposition politician ends up in jail.”

“Politics is a dirty game. We have our rules in boxing. In politics, no rules. Especially a young democracy like Ukraine. It's more like MMA.”

“A lot of people want to see a last fight, but I am now engaged in a different fight - one that is much harder, much more vicious, and much more important to me. I am fighting for democracy and fighting for Ukraine.”

“My little brother and I, we're just in our generation. We're doing the best job we can do. There were champions like Mike Tyson who fought everybody, and not everybody was just as good.”

“I didn't expect one day I become world champion in the United States. I'm very proud to be together with boxing legends. It's a dream to be in with Muhammad Ali.”

“In order to land a punch, you need to bring your fingers together into a fist. We need to join all of our forces together. That is the only way that we can win.”

“I understand that people believe that they are impotent and can do very little.”

“I remember the Soviet Union and when the Iron Curtain fell down in 1991. I was just 20 years old, and everybody had a dream to live in a modern democratic society, in a modern country. More than 15 years passed, and nothing changed. There's a saying I like very much: if you want a thing done well, do it by yourself.”

“I will be the personal bodyguard for every investment in my city. If Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary can transform, then so can Ukraine.”

“In boxing and politics, you cannot predict results. You should be ready to go 12 rounds. But if you win in the first round, you should be ready to be the winner quickly.”

“The biggest challenges are fixing the problems, to put all the puzzles together.”

“The money is important in life, but the money is not everything. I don't want to sell myself for money. I don't want to sell my reputation for money.”

“My brother is much stronger, faster, and when he becomes heavyweight champion again, I will be in his corner. One Klitschko may be gone now, but not the Klitschko name.”