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Wladimir Klitschko’s latest wartime appeal strikes at the biggest boxing event on the spring calendar.
The former longtime reigning heavyweight champion has been desperately trying to drum up support for Ukraine, his homeland, since Russia, its neighbor to the northeast, launched a bloody invasion nearly two weeks ago. Along with his older brother and fellow former heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Wladimir has urged the western world to be more aggressive in its sanctions toward Russia and in its condemnation of the country’s president, Vladimir Putin.
In his latest exhortation with members of the British press, the younger Klitschko called for a global boycott of Russian athletes from sporting competitions. Asked if that included Dmitry Bivol, the Russian national and WBA light heavyweight titleholder who is gearing up for a May 7 clash against Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez, the cash cow of boxing, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Klitschko was unambiguous in his response.
“Absolutely not,” Klitschko told BBC 5 Live Radio. “Every sanction – and it’s nothing against the personalities or athletes, it’s about the politics of Russia. Every Russian representative in this case needs to be sanctioned, because this way we show to Russia that the world is against his senseless war and there is no good in this war.”
Klitschko’s comments arrive as boxing’s sanctioning bodies have imposed their own raft of sanctions against Russia and Russian athletes. The WBO, WBC, WBA and IBF have joined together in refusing to hold title and non-title bouts in Russia. The WBA has gone so far as to temporarily remove Russian fighters from its rankings; the organization has also insisted that it will bar any Russian fighter from entering the ring with the Russian flag.
Bivol himself has come out and expressed his desire for peace between the countries, saying “None of us are enjoying what is happening.”
Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs), who was born in Kyrgyzstan but has lived in Russia for most of his life, will defend his light heavyweight against Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs), the undisputed 168-pound champion.
“I have a lot of friends in Ukraine. I have a lot of friends in Russia and my family is in Russia,” Bivol told reporters at a press conference in San Diego for his upcoming fight against Alvarez. “I have a lot of friends everywhere. I wish everyone peace and only the best. It’s really sad for me. Every day, I wake up and read the news. I hope this ends soon.”
In a separate interview, Klitschko pointed out that such a move should not be seen as an act of escalation against a country that commands the greatest number of nuclear weapon stockpiles in the world.
“To isolate Russia from all sporting competition is not an act of aggression,” Klitschko told the British tabloid The Mirror. “We do this to stop the war, in the name of peace. I have nothing personal against the athletes, but I have a lot against the aggression of Russian leader Putin.
“We believe sanctions on different levels, including sport, are crucially important.”
Klitschko, 45, believes banning Russian athletes from high-profile sporting competitions will increase the pressure for Putin to reconsider his military intrusion – perhaps the most significant of its kind since World War II, according to some experts – on a sovereign nation.
“If you take away sporting competition the athletes will ask their leader, ‘Why will nobody compete against us?’” Klitschko said. “I repeat, this is not against the athletes, it’s in the name of peace in Ukraine.
“Sport has a crucial role to play and that is why it is so important that governing bodies follow the IOC [International Olympic Committee] example by excluding Russian athletes from international events.”
“We must exclude Russian teams to play whatever sport, like the FIFA World Cup,” Klitschko added.
The IOC has issued an entreaty urging governing bodies to ban Russian athletes from their sporting events. In addition to Fifa, Formula One and the Beijing Winter Paralympics have also heeded the IOC’s appeal.
Another major Russian fighter who would potentially be affected under Klitschko’s prescription is WBC and IBF light heavyweight titlist Artur Beterbiev, who resides and trains in Montreal. The ferocious puncher is expected to take on WBO titlist Joe Smith Jr. in the summer at Madison Square Garden in New York City.