Ukraine: Queensberry rules

Dr. Iron Fist is losing his bid to become Kiev's mayor on points, judging by opinion polls. Two surveys taken in mid-May ahead of Sunday's elections show that former WBO and WBC heavyweight champion, Vitaliy Klitschko, currently lies well behind the incumbent, Leonid Chernovetsky.

The 36-year-old pugilist, a Kiev city councillor who weighs in at 245 pounds and is 6 feet 8 inches tall, is floundering despite advice from international consultants and an endorsement from former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.  Klitschko pledges to clean up the city's contracting and procurement systems and tame a building spree in the centre. Beyond these promises, Klitschko appears not to have a distinctive electoral platform or image.

Chernovetsky, who is a banker by profession, has a strong local following and defeated Klitschko in the previous mayoral bout in 2006. He is also familiar with the Queensberry rules: in January a feud with Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko deteriorated into fisticuffs. 

The city was the scene of the Orange Revolution of 2004 and Ukraine's politicians would like it as a springboard for the presidential election in 2010. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko engineered early elections for the mayoralty and city council, but her own candidate, Oleksandr Turchynov, a former deputy prime minister, has failed to shine, and an unwieldy coalition may have to be cobbled together if Chernovetsky is not to control the city council.