WBC heavyweight champion Vitaly Klitschko says he is eager to finish his sporting career in order to concentrate on making Ukraine a real democratic state as a politician.

­"It’s a big challenge – to build a European society with democratic standards in Ukraine,” Klitschko told Interfax news agency. “But I know that the one who doesn’t fight, never wins. And if I’d have to end my career in order to win the fight for the future of Ukraine, I am ready for this step.”

The 40-year-old boxer is also the leader of the UDAR (punch in English) opposition party, who even aborted his training to protest the arrest of Ukraine’s ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko back in August.

“People still know me more as a boxer,” he added. “But tell me, at which school do they teach politicians? Anyone who has a sincere desire to do good to his people and his native country can, and should, go into politics."

The elder of the Klitschko brothers, who boasts a formidable pro record of 40 knock-out wins out of a total of 43 and just two defeats, is currently preparing for the February 18 bout against Dereck Chisora of Great Britain.