On Off The Ball last night, we spoke to ESPN's boxing correspondent Dan Rafael about Vitali Klitschko's decision to give up his WBC world title and stand for election in the 2015 Ukrainian presidential election.

The heavyweight boxer intends to rid his country of corruption but he is far from the first global sporting superstar to make a switch to the political arena...

 

Manny Pacquiao

Fellow boxer Manny Pacquiao is an influential figure in his native Philippines and is a Congressman.

The ten time world title winner first ran for office in 2007 but did not win a seat in Philippine House of Representatives until 2010, running on the ticket of his own party - appropriately called the People's Champ Movement - later joining the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.

 

George Weah

Liberia's greatest ever play by a country mile and a star for AC Milan, Monaco and PSG, Weah ran for the presidency of his war-ravaged nation in 2005.

Viewed as inexperienced by pundits, the 1995 Ballon D'Or winner, finished runner up to Africa's first female president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Weah remains active on the political scene in Liberia. 

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger

The world's most well-known professional bodybuilder-turned-actor, Arnie started a new chapter in his life in 2003 when he became "The Governator" of California.

A Republican, the Austrian native served two terms as governor, stepping aside in 2011.