Heavyweight champ Vitali Klitschko to run for president in Ukraine

BOXING champ Vitali Klitschko is set to deliver a hammer blow to his native Ukraine's politics by running for president in 2015.

Ukraine champion boxer to run for president

BOXING champ Vitali Klitschko is set to deliver a hammer blow to his native Ukraine's politics by running for president in 2015.

The heavyweight fighter has announced his political plans to World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman, and hopes to become the first known challenger of incumbent president Viktor Yanukovych, who took over as the Ukraine's fourth president in 2010.

Klitschko, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Kiev in 2005, leads the UDAR opposition party, which has become one of the Ukraine's most powerful political groups.

"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," a statement from Yanukovych reads.

Klitschko, 42, is recovering from a hand injury and is due to fight Bermane Stiverne. He has not returned to the ring since he defeated Manuel Charr last September.

He's not the only current boxer with big political plans - Manny Pacquaio has set his sights on becoming president of the Philippines.

In a recent interview, the fighter nicknamed Pacman, who is already a beloved icon and congressman in his homeland, has hinted he is considering leading his nation when he retires from the ring.

Pacquiao was elected into the Philippine House of Representatives in a landslide victory in 2010.