Publicity:
With apologies to Bob Dylan and Hurricane Carter, both of these guys can take a man out with just one punch and they never did like to talk about it all that much. It’s their work they’d say and they do it for pay and when it’s all over they’d just as soon go on their way.


Vitali and Vladimir Klitschko let their fists and footwork do all the talking and up until now it’s been a one-way conversation. Both have amassed an amazing record in the ring winning all four international heavyweight belts. They’ve made millions of dollars in prize money and commercial endorsements and when they feel like hanging out, Sly Stallone answers his cell phone and jumps aboard his private jet. So life’s pretty good.


Not exactly. And that’s why we find the Klitschkos in an expansive mood, ready to talk about the plight of their blighted, beloved homeland Ukraine and their plans to wrest it back from the political forces that have put the country at the top of Transparency International’s list of corrupt European governments.


‘We have to change a lot of things in Ukraine. And I know one thing better than anyone - no fight, no win. And that’s why we have to defend our vision, our view of the future. We have to fight for that.’ VITALI KLITSCHKO


‘The democratic process has to pick up and has to get better, economically and politically … and democratically.’ VLADIMIR KLITSCHKO


Foreign Correspondent’s Eric Campbell gets a ringside seat to Vladimir’s bone-crushing heavyweight bout in Bern Switzerland and candid access to Vitali’s political campaign for this remarkable portrait of two fighters who’ve broken the mould. They're very smart, university educated, charismatic and very driven to change the direction of Ukraine. It won’t be easy. The campaign trail is littered with candidates bruised, battered and beaten by government goons and machiavellian power-brokers. It’s not unusual for the parliament itself to erupt into a melee of haymakers.


One man who has observed the Klitschkos closely - film-maker Sebastian Dehnhardt - is impressed with their aspirations, and purpose of mind and he’d back them to succeed.


SEBASTIAN DEHNHARDT: They were very smart nice polite guys, so I was really very excited to meet them.
ERIC CAMPBELL: But they can kill you with a single punch!
SEBASTIAN DEHNHARDT: With a single punch. We don’t have the muscles in the neck we need. One punch from Vladimir or Vitali and you are dead. A dead man.
ERIC CAMPBELL: But they’re nice guys fortunately.
SEBASTIAN DEHNHARDT: Absolutely.


Crowd in Bern square/ Vladimir and opponent take stage
CAMPBELL: In the peaceful heart of neutral Switzerland, the world’s top fighters are getting ready to rumble.
00:02
Vladimir fights
At 36, Vladimir Klitschko is heavyweight boxing champion of the world. He’s come to Bern to defend his title against one of the few boxers still willing to challenge him.
01:16

Music
01:28

CAMPBELL:  “How are you feeling about the
01:31
Campbell with Vladimir
fight Mr Klitschko?”
VLADIMIR KLITSCHKO: “How am I feeling about the fight? Before every fight I’m excited”.
01:32
Vladimir boxes
Music
01:38

CAMPBELL: Klitschko grew up poor in the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine with barely enough money for training. Now he’s in the same winning league as Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali. But Vladimir Klitschko is unlike any previous boxing champion. Amazingly, he shares the crown with his older brother.
01:46
Vitali fight
Music
02:08

CAMPBELL: This is big brother Vitali Klitschko. At 41, he’s also heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
02:11
Klitschko brothers. Supers:
Vladimir
Vitali
Between them, they’ve won all four international belts.
02:21
Beer commercial featuring brothers
That means they share the glory and the marketing spin-offs. The only boxers they won’t fight are each other. It’s a solemn promise they made to their mum.
02:28
Campbell with Vitali
VITALI KLITSCHKO: “We’re not just brothers, we’re close friends and we love each other and support each other. And our opponent doesn’t know one secret - they’re fighting against two brothers because it’s a double bout…we’re double strong”.
02:48
Vladimir weigh-in
CAMPBELL: The Klitschkos even take turns winning. Here in Bern it’s Vladimir defending his title while Vitali stays in the background. Their success has made them famous around the world and they’re about to see how far it can take them back home. After dominating boxing for years, the brothers are now turning to
03:11
Campbell to camera by outside ring
a more difficult fight – a political contest in their native Ukraine. That’s an arena where the violence is just as real, but where no-one plays by the rules.
03:43
Fisticuffs inside Ukraine parliament/ Throwing smoke bombs
Music
03:53

CAMPBELL:  This is Ukraine’s parliament in action. Today it’s a debate over a Soviet-era naval port. Government MPs punching from the top, want to let Russia extend its lease.
04:01

The opposition, punching from below, want closer ties with the West. It’s no surprise
04:22

Speaker behind umbrella sheltering from eggs
the Speaker thought to bring umbrellas.
CAMPBELL:  “What’s the tougher arena, the boxing ring or Ukrainian politics?”
VLADIMIR KLITSCHKO: “There is nothing to compare politics and sport. Sport has certain laws and rights and
04:28
Vladimir. Super:
Vladimir Klitschko
rules and in politics, even if you have laws as well but there’s like no rules. That’s in my opinion and especially in the politics in Ukraine which is a little different from the rest of the world”.
04:44
Kyiv general views
CAMPBELL: It’s more than 20 years since Ukraine won independence from the Soviet Union, but this nation of 46 million is having trouble finding its feet.
04:53
Church/Priests with icon
Like many former Soviet states, hopes for prosperity and freedom have been crushed by corruption and repression.
05:08
Vitali on Polit Club TV1
Vitali Portnikov is a political commentator on TV1, often descried as Ukraine’s last independent television station.
05:20

VITALI PORTNIKOV: “For more than twenty years
05:33
Vitali
Ukraine’s politics was all about money, not values. That has totally ruined the government and the people”.
05:38

Yanukovych at military service
CAMPBELL: In the two years since Viktor Yanukovych became President, Ukraine’s reputation has hit rock bottom. Transparency International now ranks his country as the most corrupt in Europe. He’s become a pariah to other European leaders since the opposition leader,
05:49
Poster of Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko, was gaoled.
06:12
Security forces at street demo
His security forces tend to crush anyone who takes him on, but he’s about to face two brothers who aren’t scared of a fight.
VITALI KLITSCHKO: “We have to change a
06:17
Vitali. Super:
Vitali Klitschko
lot of things. We Ukrainian European. We’re European not just geographically, we’re European with our history, with our mentality. We want to be European with life standards and with rules, European rules, and we have to change a lot of things in Ukraine. And I know one thing better than anyone, no fight no win. And that’s why we have to defend our visions, we have to defend our view for the future and we have to fight for that”.
06:29
Refurbished gym/ Zolotaryov coaches ringside
CAMPBELL: The Klitschkos learnt to fight in this gym in the capital, Kyiv.  It’s now refurbished thanks to the brothers’ largesse but when they trained here in the early ‘90s, it was as run down as Ukraine itself. As their old coach, Vladimir Zolotaryov recalls, it was a tough time to be a young man in Kyiv.
VLADIMIR ZOLOTARYOV: “It was the time of street gangs. They could join a gang and get a bullet between the eyes or get stabbed in the back.
07:01
Zolotaryov
So they didn’t join but they came and asked me as their coach, Vladimir, what should we do? We don’t even have proper clothes… money is tight. I said, ‘Wait guys, one day you’ll have all the money you want’. So they listened and that was that.”
07:48
Excerpt from Klitschko film
CAMPBELL: The journey from hungry battlers to world champions is the stuff of a movie and not surprisingly, one’s just been made. “Klitschko” chronicles their dogged rise to the top and the blows they suffered and dealt along the way.
08:09
Campbell and Dehnhardt
What fascinated the German director, Sebastian Dehnhardt was how these fighters were also thinkers.
08:30
Super:
Sebastian Dehnhardt
Film Director
SEBASTIAN DEHNHARDT: “I was interested in telling a story about two brothers actually and about the relationship and about the rivalry and about.... they are very smart and educated people with PhDs
08:39
Excerpt from Klitschko film
but they box for a living”.
CAMPBELL: “But they can kill you with a single punch”.
SEBASTIAN DEHNHARDT: “With a single punch, you know, and we don’t have the muscles in the neck we need. I mean one punch of Vitali or Vladimir and you are dead... a dead man”.
08:56

CAMPBELL: “But they’re nice guys fortunately”.
SEBASTIAN DEHNHARDT: “Absolutely, yeah absolutely”.
09:07
Klitschko family photos
Music
09:11


CAMPBELL: Raised in a close military family, they inherited their father’s discipline and sense of duty, one that drove him to serve in the clean-up of the damaged Chernobyl nuclear plant.
SEBASTIAN DEHNHARDT: “They learnt so many values from this military education in the family and like.... the most important thing is discipline of course... but to stay focused and to learn how to deal with defeats and so on. And their parents are very intelligent people. An outstanding family in a way”.
09:17
Excerpt from Klitschko film

09:50
Super:
‘Klitschko’ Universal Pictures
CAMPBELL: The film also explores the paradox of their careers; despite huge success in Europe it was many years before they were taken seriously in the US.
10:01

DAN RAFAEL: “Now you have to follow the Klitschkos to see what’s going to happen with their careers because they had such a big name in Europe. Well, Vitali had won a belt against Herbie Hide but there were very few people, at least in the United States, that really considered that to be a serious championship. You know, the expectation, at least this side of the pond was, you know, you need to fight, you know, good for you,
10:11
Rafael. Super:
Dan Rafael
Boxing writer
congratulations on winning your belt, but you’re going to have to step up and fight some of our guys before we’re going to give you the props that you deserve”.
10:30
Excerpt from film. Lewis bout
CAMPBELL: It was only Vitali’s attitude in defeat that finally won him acceptance in the pantheon of legends.
10:35

In this brutal bout in 2003, Lennox Lewis inflicted a deep cut above his left eye. The fight had to be stopped but it was Klitschko’s determination to keep going despite the injury, that became boxing legend.
10:51

DAN RAFAEL: “Despite the loss it was an extremely memorable fight, a tremendous action battle, the kind of fight that fight fans want to see in a heavyweight fight and even though it was not the outcome that Vitali wanted, he knows that he gained immeasurable respect from the American public and Lennox Lewis won the fight, Vitali won the event”.
11:15

Music
11:32
‘Rocky’ poster

11:45
Klitschkos with Stallone
CAMPBELL: There’s nothing to stop them settling back to enjoy their wealth and fame. They spend most of their time abroad, mixing with an A-list of celebrities like their close friend Sylvester Stallone.
11:50
Ad for ‘Rocky’ musical

12:02

They’ve even produced a musical of Stallone’s boxing film, Rocky – in German.
12:22
String quartet play

12:34
Klitschko brothers on stage at foundation
But instead of relishing the good life, they’re taking on the bad and murky world of Ukrainian politics.
VITALI KLITSCHKO: “You know what, I’m from Ukraine.
12:41

Foundation event
I’ve grown up here. I have Ukrainian mentality. I love this country. For me it’s the best country in the world. I can’t bring all my friends to United States, all my neighbours, my parents - it’s almost impossible first point.
12:54
Vitali. Super:
Vitali Klitschko
And the second point much easier to make changes. Why have to do that? We can make changes in Ukraine, inside the country and we can do it in very short period of time”.
13:08

CAMPBELL: “You believe that, you really believe you can change this country?”
13:21

VITALI KLITSCHKO: “If you don’t believe in yourself, you never reach your goal”.
13:23
Vitali addresses political rally
CAMPBELL: The brothers share the dream of turning Ukraine into a normal rule-based society. But in this fight, Vitali’s doing the heavy-hitting.
13:32

VITALI KLITSCHKO: “Yes of course he’s not active as me in Ukrainian politics but Vladimir shares
13:46

with me my vision and helps me also and supports me”.
13:52
Udar advertisement

13:56

CAMPBELL: He’s already campaigning hard for the October parliamentary elections, running a series of advertisements that trade on his sporting celebrity.
14:04
Vitali poster in Kyiv street
You can hardly walk 50 metres through the centre of Kyiv without seeing him. He’s formed a party called
14:25

Campbell to camera
Ukrainian Democratic Action for Reform, known by its initials, U.D.A.R, as Udar. That just happens to be Ukrainian for “punch”.
14:33
File footage of council meeting protest
And it’s not a bad metaphor. This is what happened in Kyiv when his UDAR city councillors occupied the rostrum. Government goons moved in to clear them, apparently unconcerned by Vitali’s fighting prowess. They were trying to stop the mayor selling city property to business cronies.
14:47
Vitali interview during protest
VITALI KLITSCHKO: “We’ll be here until Thursday. We’ll fight if we need to”.
15:14
Vitali at protest
CAMPBELL: Recently he was among hundreds who were sprayed with tear gas at a protest.
VITALI KLITSCHKO: [at protest] “It was a peaceful demonstration. Putting this tear gas was not a nice feeling. We want to live in a democratic country”.
15:18
Orange Revolution footage – Yuschenko and Tymoshenko
CAMPBELL: Running for office may not compare to the dangers of the ring, but in Ukraine even celebrity politicians can be poisoned or gaoled. Nearly eight years ago, the Orange Revolution swept two opposition figures to power. Viktor Yuschenko, whose face was ruined from dioxin poisoning became President. Yulia Tymoshenko, famous for her beauty and braids became Prime Minister.
15:43
Tymoshenko
YULIA TYMOSHENKO: “What’s happened in Ukraine is that millions of people have decided Ukraine must change and life will be totally different. That belief has become reality”.
16:13

Church
CAMPBELL: It wasn’t to be. Today those hopes have vanished along
16:33
Campbell to camera
with the protestors. Tymoshenko and her allies simply failed to deliver the changes they promised. Two years ago she narrowly lost the Presidential election and her old foes returned to power. It wasn’t long before they were settling scores.
16:37
Riot police with demonstrators
Within weeks she was charged with corruption, this time her supporters were no match for an army of police. In October she was sentenced to seven years in gaol and fined tens of millions of dollars.
16:57
Yevgenia addresses supporters

17:15

Despite protests led by her daughter Yevgenia, prosecutors have heaped ever more charges on her, from bribery to involvement in murder. Her family fears she could die in gaol.
17:18
Yevgenia. Super:
Yevgenia Tymoshenko
YEVGENIA TYMOSHENKO: “She’s my mother. I want her to stay alive because now she’s under really, really serious danger”.
CAMPBELL: “But she’s a fighter”.
YEVGENIA TYMOSHENKO: “She’s a fighter. She’s always been you know, she’s a true leader”.
17:32
Tymoshenko billboards
Music
17:44

CAMPBELL: Her mother has spent months in isolation in a prison hospital. While the government insists
17:50

Photos. Tymoshenko in prison showing bruises
she’s getting a fair trial, photographs appear to back her claims of being seriously beaten.
YEVGENIA TYMOSHENKO: “So of course the now regime
17:55
Yevgenia
uses any means, illegal means, you know, the means of, you know, that are done against her human rights, against even human principles, just to keep her in gaol longer and to psychologically suppress her”.
18:04
Vitali
CAMPBELL: “Do you think you’re safe from the same sort of fate as Tymoshenko? I mean if you become a threat wouldn’t the do the same to you?”
18:20
Super:
Vitali Klitschko
VITALI KLITSCHKO: “No guarantee. You know what, you are not safe in this country but we need the feeling to trust the country, to trust the government, to be sure tomorrow you’re safe. We’re fighting not for our... we’re fighting for the future, for our family, for our kids”.
18:27
Medieval festival. Fighters
Music
18:55

CAMPBELL: Ukrainians have a long history of fighting for survival. Over the centuries they’ve been caught between invaders from the East and West. Every year in festivals around the country, they celebrate their fighting traditions and manly prowess.
19:00
Vitali spars
Being a champion boxer here is a sure way to become a national hero but it doesn’t guarantee success.
19:26
Vitali poster
Vitali Klitschko has twice run for mayor of Kyiv and lost both times.
13:35

Portnikov in studio
Some, like the commentator Vitali Portnikov, doubt his prowess in the ring will translate into politics.
19:41

VITALI PORTNIKOV: “Vitali Klitschko is an attractive figurehead. What I want is to see people with opinions and policies”.
19:51
Vitali
CAMPBELL: “Some people say you’re a great sportsman, but how will you be a politician? How can you convince people that the talents you’ve shown in the ring, can also be talents in politics?”
20:01

VITALI KLITSCHKO: “My favourite saying… nothing is impossible. I use the same skills as in sport. You need… I need to set a goal… you need… character… you need fight… you need good team… to build a good team… to be the winner”.
20:13

CAMPBELL: “And you like to win”.
20:39

VITALI KLITSCHKO: “Yes, of course. Who like to be the loser?”
20:41
People in square
Music
20:45

CAMPBELL: Many Ukrainians particularly young people have lost faith in all politicians -
20:49
Campbell walks to Femen HQ
none more so than the protest group I’m going to meet today. Femen, led by Sasha Shevchenko, is an avowedly feminist group with an astonishing knack for self-promotion. As we arrive, we find her activists in the midst of self-defence training.
21:02

Campbell with Shevchenko. Women train
SASHA SHEVCHENKO: “We’re training for our action because you know that we are... always we are faced with the policemen and we have to be strong to protect ourselves and fight with them”.
21:23
Femen topless protest

21:34

CAMPBELL: Like Pussy Riot in Russia, they’ve chosen shock guerrilla tactics to spread their message.
21:41

SASHA SHEVCHENKO: “In Ukraine women have to take their clothes off to make people listen.
21:53
Shevchenko
In Ukraine men only look at or listen to sexy, naked women. If women just stand there holding banners no matter how much grief there is in their lives no-one’s going to be interested”.
21:57
Femen protest. Man boxes with topless woman
CAMPBELL: When they don boxing gloves, it’s not to support Klitschko, but to protest against domestic violence. They’re as contemptuous of the opposition as they are of the government.
22:16

SASHA SHEVCHENKO: “Klitschko can’t be a politician, he’s just a popular sportsman with an unspoilt reputation for now.
22:34
Shevchenko
He understands nothing about politics, he’s never defended Ukrainian people. He fakes photos on his campaign banners. It’s just funny a boxer in politics”.
22:43
Vitali ad
Music
22:56

CAMPBELL: With the failure of the Orange Revolution, Ukraine’s opposition remains weak and divided. Yulia Tymoshenko’s party has been appealing for Vitali Klitschko to join them.
23:03
Yevgenia. Super:
Yevgenia Tymoshenko
YEVGENIA TYMOSHENKO: “I know that my mother respects him and I know that there are many calls for him to join the United Opposition because we believe, of course, that with him you know it’s going to be an ultimate United Opposition”.
2323
UDAR billboards
CAMPBELL: But for now he’s staying aloof, aiming to maximise votes for UDAR so he can have a strong say in any future coalition.
23:36
Vitali addresses school children

23:49

Slowly, this champion boxer is turning into a seasoned politician. He not only runs a foundation to help underprivileged kids, he makes sure the public gets to see his good work.
23:57
Photos. Klitschkos with Zolotaryov
As his old coach, Vladimir Zolotaryov recalls, he and his brother are nothing if not quick learners.
VLADIMIR ZOLOTARYOV: “When they travelled they never just sat there.
24:16
Zolotaryov
They were always busy with something, reading, writing… busying themselves. So I would say they’re real politicians”.
24:27
Dehnhardt
SEBASTIAN DEHNHARDT: “His greatest strength is that he doesn’t give up. He continues to fight and he fights on. That’s what he learned from boxing and I’m sure he’ll do it in politics”.
24:38
Crowd at Vladimir match
Music
24:49


CAMPBELL: Back in Bern, there’s no doubt who’s the favourite in this fight. Vladimir strides into the ring with almost the entire arena cheering him to victory. His opponent, Tony ‘The Tiger’ Thompson, is a formidable fighter. But in round after round he struggles to lay a glove on him.
24:56
Vladimir knocks out opponent
Finally Vladimir lands the killer blow and wins by a knockout.
25:29
After match press conference
After the match, he tells me he never imagined losing.
25:49

VLADIMIR KLITSCHKO: [press conference] “I didn’t ever doubt from the beginning of the fight that I would defend my titles and that’s the attitude of a champion. If I had a doubt I probably wouldn’t win the fight”.
25:57
Klitschkos train
Music
26:08

CAMPBELL: The Klitschkos have grown used to winning - the bigger the odds, the more determined they become. Whether they can take this success into the political arena remains to be seen but one thing is certain, they won’t die wondering.
26:10

Music
26:25

Credits
Reporter:  Eric Campbell
Camera:    David Martin
                   Daniel Soekov
Editor:       Scott Monro
Research: Yuliya Kutsenko
Producer: Ian Altschwager
Additional material: ‘Kitschko’ Universal Pictures
26:29