MOSCOW, Sept 4: Ukrainian world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko on Tuesday said he had temporarily put his political aspirations to one side for his heavyweight title fight against Germany’s Manuel Charr.

Klitschko, 40, leads the aptly named UDAR (punch) party in Ukraine which is currently running third in opinion polls ahead of legislative elections on Oct 28 and is vehemently critical of President Viktor Yanukovych.

But he told reporters he had put his political activity on ice to concentrate on the fight with Charr, 27, for the WBC belt in the Russian capital on Saturday. He vowed to return to campaigning after the bout. “August were the holidays and my (campaign) team gave me the chance to devote myself to sport,” Klitschko told reporters at a pre-fight media conference in Moscow alongside his opponent.

“Once the fight is over I will play a more active role in the politics so that Ukrainian voters back our political force to represent them” in the Verkhovna Rada parliament, he added.—AFP