By Joiner Martinez
Sep 17, 2024, 10:36 PM EDT
Boxer Oleksandr Usyk, heavyweight champion, was arrested on Tuesday at Krakow airport in Poland.
Usyk was released after the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry intervened, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on social media.
The heavyweight boxer was detained after trying to board a flight to Valencia, Spain, where he will begin preparations for his Dec. 21 heavyweight championship rematch against Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Usyk, along with his wife, Kateryna, and their coach, Sergey Lapin, were denied boarding after an airline official determined they were unfit to travel, the sources added.
Usyk explained that all parties were simply exhausted from a nearly 14-hour travel day from kyiv and were fine to fly, the source said. Between the language barrier and Usyk insisting they were fine to fly and had no impediments, he was stopped.
Usyk’s wife posted a video on social media showing him being led away in handcuffs on the jet bridge. She said the matter was “not criminal at all.”
“There was a misunderstanding,” Usyk wrote on social media. “It was quickly resolved. Thank you to everyone who cared. Thank you to the Ukrainian diplomats for the efficient support. And I respect the Polish police for fulfilling their duties without regard to height, weight, reach or insignia.”
Zelensky wrote on social media that he spoke with Usyk after his detention.
“I was disappointed by this attitude towards our citizen and champion,” Zelensky wrote in his post. “I have ordered the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko to immediately investigate all the details of the incident that occurred at the Krakow airport.
“Everything is fine now, our champion has been released and is no longer under arrest.”
Zelensky’s post included a photo of Usyk with a Ukrainian official.
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