Boxing Superstars With Surprising Second Career Choices
Boxing has many excellent athletes but not many of them become legendary. And many of them simply disappear from the spotlight after retiring from active duty. Their names suddenly disappear from the headlines, Betway and other bookmakers no longer list their fights, and they slowly fade out of common knowledge. But not these retired boxing legends who made a name for themselves way beyond the ring – in some surprising areas.
Vitali Klitschko
Vitali Klitschko held several titles throughout his career, defeating 15 heavyweight fighters in title matches, and together with his brother Wladimir, they dominated heavyweight boxing between 2006 and 2015. In his younger years, Klitschko competed in amateur boxing, kickboxing, and sports karate, and transitioned to professional boxing in 1996 – a choice that ascertained his career for almost two decades. He retired from boxing in 2013 with an impressive record of 45 wins from 47 matches (41 by KO), retaining the status of “champion emeritus” – he can challenge any heavyweight champion if he decided to return. But he exchanged the ring with an even fiercer proving ground: politics.
The Klitschko brothers first got involved in politics in 2004 when they openly supported Viktor Yushchenko, the politician who would become the third post-Soviet president of Ukraine. Vitali was appointed as an adviser to Yushchenko. Upon retiring briefly in 2005, Vitali Klitschko ran for the Mayoral seat of Kyiv but lost, still earning a position in the Kyiv City Council. Two years later, he retained this position – in two more years, he had his own political party.
Vitali Klitschko ultimately became the Mayor of Kyiv in 2014, a position he holds to this day.
Manny Pacquiao
When not beating opponents to a pulp, the only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing is fighting for his people on a battleground filled with traps and cutthroats: the Senate floor. All this while still being active in the ring.
Pacquiao was elected as a senator in 2016 – and he doesn’t stop there. Since becoming the leader of his party, he became critical of the country’s sitting president, while hinting at his intentions to run for president in 2022.
All this while planning a rematch against Yordenis Ugás next January.
George Foreman
It’s not surprising for a sports personality to lend their name and likeness to a product – it has been done countless times in the past, and it will be done in the future. The George Foreman Grill is one of these cases – lending his name to sell appliances is probably the main source of income for the once-legendary boxer.
His surprising career change happened further away from the spotlight, after a fight against Jimmy Young in 1978. The exhaustion from the fight and the heatstroke gave him a “near-death” experience, during which he – not a religious person beforehand – asked for “divine intervention”. After this experience he left the ring for the better part of a decade, becoming an ordained minister. He has been preaching at the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston, Texas, since 1980