By Matt Blake PUBLISHED: 11:50 EST, 4 July 2012 | UPDATED: 01:47 EST, 5 July 2012 Boxing world champion Vitali Klitschko was injured today in violent clashes with police after Ukraine's government voted to make Russian an official language instead of his home tongue. The Ukrainian prizefighter-turned-politician had to be treated after he was sprayed in the eyes with teargas and suffered a gash to his left arm in the unrest. The WBC Heavyweight Champion was among rioters angry at the Ukranian government's decision to make Russian, rather than Ukrainian, the main language in schools and local government in some parts of the former Soviet republic.
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The Ukranian government voted to make Russian, not Ukrainian, the main language in schools and local government
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The WBC Heavyweight champion needed treatment to his eyes and suffered a gash to the arm
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Klitschko has founded his own opposition party, Udar, and plans to run in Kiev's upcoming mayoral elections
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Only last December he beat Brit boxer Derek Chisora in the ring in Berlin to defend his WBC Heavyweight title
Teargas: Opposition parties and millions who speak @placeholder as their first language see the bill as a threat to sovereignty