Selenskyj outraged: Boxing world champion Usyk briefly arrested in Poland

According to media reports, boxing world champion Oleksandr Usyk was briefly arrested at the airport in Krakow, Poland. As ESPN reported, the Ukrainian heavyweight champion and his trainer were prevented from boarding a plane to Valencia. There, Usyk plans to prepare for his next fight against Tyson Fury in December. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X that he had spoken to Usyk on the phone and that the 37-year-old was free. Zelensky said he was “disappointed” with the way “our citizen and champion” had been treated.

Usyk described the incident on Instagram as a “misunderstanding” and praised the Polish police for doing their job without regard to “height, weight, reach and insignia”.

Strenuous journey to Poland

According to ESPN, the reason the two were prevented from boarding the plane was apparently the perception of an airline employee that Usyk and his trainer were not in an appropriate condition for the flight – the report relies on an anonymous source on this point. Usyk protested against this assessment and argued that both were simply exhausted after a 14-hour journey from war-torn Ukraine – including a nearly 900-kilometer car journey. The language barrier in combination with Usyk’s agitation is said to have been the reason for the interim arrest.

In the spectacular world championship unification fight in Riyadh on May 18, Usyk defeated the previously unbeaten Briton Fury (35) on points and took the WBC belt from him. Usyk, who had previously been world champion of the important associations IBF, WBO and WBA, thus became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years. The rematch in Saudi Arabia is scheduled for December 21.