Vitali Klitschko would run in the 2012 Kiev mayoral election. During the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Klitschko was elected (he was top candidate on UDAR's party list) into the Ukrainian parliament; when his party won 40 seats. Klitschko was chosen the leader of the party's faction in Parliament. Klitschko announced on 24 October 2013 that he intended to take part in the next Ukrainian presidential election that was then set for 2015. Experts and lawyers then argued that it was unclear if Klitschko could take part in these elections. Under Ukrainian law, a presidential candidate must have had his residence in Ukraine
Vitali Klitschko of the undercard of Lewis' fight with Kirk Johnson for the IBO title, as the WBC would not sanction the fight for their title. Johnson, however, pulled out of the fight due to injury and Klitschko, due to his being in training for a fight on the same day as Lewis, took the fight on short notice. Immediately after he accepted, the WBC elected to sanction the fight as a title match and Lewis' "The Ring" title was also up for grabs in addition to his lineal title. Klitschko, a 4–1 underdog, dominated the early going with many harder punches.