Klitschko brothers call for Russian boxer to be banned from fighting Canelo Alvarez

The Klitschko brothers have called on boxing authorities to ban Russian boxer Dmitry Bivol from fighting against Canelo Alvarez following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

More than two million people have now fled the country and the UN has recorded over 1,335 civilian casualties since the war began, with a host of sanctions imposed on Russia as a result.

In the sporting world there has been a near universal response with F1 cancelling the Russian Grand Prix and Russian athletes prevented from competing at the Paralympic Winter Games.

But one high-profile Russian athlete – undefeated WBA light-heavyweight champion Bivol – is still due to face pound-for-pound superstar Canelo, and the Klitschkos do not believe the bout should go ahead.

Asked if Bivol should be allowed to fight Canelo, Wladimir Klitschko – who has remained in Kyiv to fight against Russia alongside his brother – told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘Absolutely not.

‘Every sanction, and it’s nothing against the personality or athletes, it’s about the politics of Russia.

‘Every Russian representative in this case needs to be sanctioned, because this way we show to Russia that the world is against this senseless war and that there’s no good in this war.’

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Vitali, who is the Mayor of Kyiv, added: ‘And the Russia population have to put pressure on the government, on Putin, from inside the country and show that it’s actually a senseless war.

‘People pay with their lives, already thousands from both sides have died. The