Vitali Klitschko the Ukrainian presidential opposition movement. Klitschko knocked Williams down in the 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 8th rounds before the fight was stopped. Immediately afterward, Klitschko dedicated his victory to democracy in his native Ukraine and also to the Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, whom he supported in 26 December 2004, election revote. On 9 November 2005, Klitschko announced his retirement from professional boxing and vacated his title. He had been training to fight Hasim Rahman, however, nine days before the fight, he injured his leg while sparring. He snapped his anterior cruciate ligament, which with surgery would take up to
Wladimir Klitschko I'm ready. What're you waiting for?" Haye's trainer, Adam Booth, indicated that Haye would be willing to accept the challenge. Both sides began negotiations for a potential fight and the bout was targeted for September. As the negotiations continued to move forward, the unification fight between Klitschko and Haye was expected to take place in Germany rather than England. The IBF set a deadline to end negotiations on 17 May. A few days before the deadline to make the unification bout, Haye said he was interested in fighting the older Klitschko, Vitali, rather than Wladimir. The fight did not materialize