Boxer Vitali Klitschko Announces Ukrainian Presidential Run

Heavyweight boxing champ Vitali Klitschko is fighting to become president of the Ukraine.

Announcing his official run for his homeland's top job on Thursday, Klitschko revealed he plans to run for the presidency in 2015, and will not be stopped by critics.

He'll become the first known challenger of incumbent president Viktor Yanukovych, who took over as the Ukraine's fourth president in 2010.

The boxer, who has twice run for mayor of Kiev, says, "I cannot be intimidated or stopped. In order to put an end to various attempts to get rid of me as a possible candidate, I want to say that I'm running for president. I have a residence permit in Germany, but this doesn't violate the Ukrainian legislation, and I've always been a citizen of Ukraine."

The 42 year old has political pedigree in the Ukraine and currently runs the popular Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party. He announced his intention to run for president to World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman in August, prompting the sport's head to state, "He (Klitschko) stressed what's much more important than one person being president, is to improve the lives of Ukrainians with a more efficient economy, modernisation, more jobs and better opportunities for the future."

Klitschko is the brother of fellow boxer Wladimir Klitschko, who became engaged to actress Hayden Panettiere earlier this month.