The Western-style liberal party of heavyweight boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko has surged in popularity to second place behind President Viktor Yanukovych’s party ahead of Ukraine’s Oct. 28 parliamentary election, polls showed on Monday.

Klitschko, a relative political novice, has been highly critical of Yanukovich’s leadership and is focusing his party’s campaign on fighting high-level corruption in the former Soviet republic of 46 million people.