KIEV, June 21 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko congratulated boxer Wladimir Klitschko on Sunday on his successful defense of the WBO and IBF world heavyweight belts.
Klitschko, 33, defeated Uzbekistan's Ruslan Chagaev with a technical knockout after nine rounds in front of a crowd of 61,000 at the Schalke 04 stadium in Germany on Saturday.
Tymoshenko said in a message published on the Ukrainian government's website: "I sincerely congratulate Wladimir Klitschko, who has defended his IBF, IBO and WBO world champion titles with another spectacular victory. Last night he proved yet again that Ukraine has no equals in the world ring."
"You, Wladimir, together with your brother [world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko] have through real actions created a glorious image for Ukraine. I thank you for this."
The Ukrainian, who had initially been scheduled to fight undisputed cruiserweight champion David Haye of Britain, dominated the match against Chagaev, knocking him down in the second round.
The much-anticipated June 20 fight in Germany between Klitschko and Haye was canceled last week after the Londoner pulled out with a back injury he picked up in training.
Chagaev was scheduled to fight Russia's WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolai Valuev on May 30 in Helsinki, but the bout was called off after the champion in recess was diagnosed with a mild form of Hepatitis B and was unable to meet the Finnish boxing federation's medical requirements.
