Not even the sport’s heavyweight king is safe from the long arm of the law.

Thankfully, Oleksandr Usyk is free and clear after he was briefly detained by customs police at Kraków John Paul II International Airport in Krakow, Poland. A specific reason was never offered for the incident, but his entire team confirmed it was a mix-up.

“[Thank] God it’s all fine,” Yekaterina Usyk, Oleksandr’s wife, informed her social media followers. “No one was arrested. Usyk is free. A misunderstanding.”

The sport’s leading pound-for-pound king took to social media to address the matter upon his release.

“Dear Friends. A misunderstanding took place,” Usyk said on his verified Instagram and X channels. “It was quickly resolved. Thanks to all who got concerned.”

Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) was traveling en route to London to attend the Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua IBF heavyweight title fight this weekend. He was stopped by Krakow airport officials for unknown reasons before he was placed in handcuffs.

Authorities and Usyk himself confirmed that the Ukrainian southpaw was never placed under arrest. He was held until authorities at home were able to huddle with Polish law enforcement to resolve the matter.

“I spoke with Oleksandr Usyk on the phone after he was detained,” Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “I was disappointed by this attitude towards our citizen and champion. I instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, to immediately look into all the details of the incident at Kraków airport.

“Now, everything is fine, our champion has been released. He is no longer being detained. In the photo, he is with our Consul General in Kraków right after being released.”

I spoke with Oleksandr Usyk on the phone after he was detained.

I was disappointed by this attitude towards our citizen and champion.

I instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, to… pic.twitter.com/LNKcH0OupR

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 17, 2024

Usyk became the first fully unified heavyweight champion of the 21^st century after his May 18 split decision win over Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs). The victory set up a lucrative rematch for the 37-year-old southpaw and a four-month—and still running—celebration by renowned X personality Nadim Haddad.

The feat also saw Usyk join Evander Holyfield as the sport’s only two fighters to hold undisputed championship reigns at cruiserweight and heavyweight. Usyk’s reign was immediately interrupted when he was forced to vacate the IBF belt. The move saw Dubois (21-2, 19 KOs) upgraded to full from interim IBF titlist, a belt he nabbed in a June 1 stoppage win over Filip Hrgovic.

Dubois will now defend versus Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) this Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London.

Usyk is a combined 3-0 versus the two.

He defeated Joshua via unanimous decision to win the WBA, IBF and WBO belts in Sept. 2021 in North London. The feat was repeated, though in a split decision in their Aug. 2022 rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Usyk earned The Ring heavyweight championship with the win.

One year later, Usyk scored a ninth-round knockout of London’s Dubois last August 26 in Wroclaw, Poland. The win paved the way to then face and defeat Fury to collect the WBC belt in Riyadh.

Usyk and Fury will return to Riyadh for their highly anticipated Dec. 21 rematch.

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