Undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk released after Poland detention
Undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has been released after being detained by police at Poland’s Krakow airport, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday.
“I was outraged by this attitude towards our citizen and champion,” Zelensky said via the messaging app Telegram.
“Our champion has been released and no one holds him anymore.”
It was not immediately clear why the 37-year-old Usyk was being held. The WBC, WBO and WBA champion, who also won gold at the 2012 London Olympics, is a national hero who supports Kiev’s war effort.
The Polish foreign and interior ministries did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
“Friends, everything is fine,” Usyk said in an Instagram post. “There was a misunderstanding that was quickly resolved. Thanks to everyone who was concerned.”
He added: “Respect for Polish law enforcement officers who carry out their duties regardless of their height, weight, arm length and title.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X that his ministry will contact the Polish Foreign Ministry, as it considers the detention “disproportionate and unacceptable in relation to our champion”.
Poland’s TVP Info, a television news channel of the state broadcaster TVP, published a video on its website on social media showing Polish police officers leading the handcuffed Usyk through what appeared to be an airport.
Reuters could not independently verify the video.
ESPN reported that Usyk was detained after he attempted to board a flight to Valencia, Spain, where he was to train for his December 21 rematch against Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk defeated Fury in May to become the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world in a thrilling match at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
The crowd-pleasing Ukrainian is the first boxer to hold all four major heavyweight titles simultaneously, and the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis’ reign ended in April 2000.
He was forced to vacate his IBF belt in June after failing to fight the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger, Daniel Dubois. Instead, he will fight Anthony Joshua for the vacant belt at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. Usyk is expected to be ringside for the bout, which promoters say will draw a sellout crowd of more than 96,000.
Usyk’s charity, the Usyk Foundation, supports Kiev’s troops in the war that Russia started with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It buys ambulances and delivers humanitarian aid to the front line, among other things.
Usyk’s wife, Yekaterina Usyk, who posted a blurry photo of her husband surrounded by uniformed officers, said in an Instagram post in English that she was grateful her husband was free after a misunderstanding.