Vitali Klitschko's next title may be 'Mr. President'

ANYONE WHO has ever heard Michael Buffer intone "Let's get ready to rummmmmble" knows ring announcers can come up with some very clever and creative banter.

If Vitali Klitschko gets his way, he may one day have the most unique introduction in boxing history.

We can hear Buffer now:

"Ladies and gentleman . . . In the blue corner, at 6-7 and weighing in at 243 pounds, the man known as Dr. Ironfist, the heavyweight champion of the world - and president of Ukraine - Vitali Klitscho-o-o-o-o.

President of what?

That's right. Klitschko is reportedly considering running against incumbent Viktor Yanukovych, whose term ends in 2015.

The boxer leads Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a recent opinion poll, which isn't surprising considering she is serving the remaining 5 years of a 7-year jail sentence for abuse of power.

The poll also found Klitschko would win a run-off election against Yanukovych.

Klitschko has been involved in recent government protests and wants to bring Western-style democracy to Ukraine.

"This is not a revolution. It is a peaceful protest that demands justice," Klitschko told the Associated Press yesterday. "The people are not defending political interests. They are defending the idea of living in a civilized country."

On Sunday, protestors called for Yanukovych to resign in light of his recent decision to pull out of an economic treaty with the 28-nation European Union.

Klitschko said he got a taste of democracy while training in the United States and Germany and thinks his countrymen would embrace it.

"Those people who are in politics [in Ukraine] do not make it their goal to change the country," he said. "They are simply plundering the country."

Time will tell if Klitschko adds "Mr. President" to his title.

Of course, he may find the political arena is even more hard-hitting and dirty than the ring.