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 vs. Chris Byrd of the fight with Byrd being elusive and making himself a difficult target. After 9 rounds Vitali had suffered a torn rotator cuff and despite being clearly ahead on the scorecards (88-83, 88-83, & 89-82) he retired on his stool handing the win to Byrd. Harold Lederman, HBO's unofficial judge, had Klitschko ahead 88-83 at the time of the stoppage. Vitali's status as a rising star of the Heavyweight division took a knock after this with HBO commentator Larry Merchant said, "He doesn’t have the mentality of a champion. I can hardly believe what I just saw." Byrd's first defence