Footage has emerged showing heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk being detained at an airport.
Usyk’s wife, Yekaterina, was among those to share a clip of her husband being led away in handcuffs.
However, she also posted on her Instagram story featuring the footage: “Everything is ok, everything is fine.
“Oleksandr will explain everything later!!! nothing to be criminal … Good night to you all.”
His friend and coach Serge Lapin wrote on the same platform: “Don’t worry, everything’s fine. The customs control service is neglecting its duties.”
🇵🇱🇺🇦 Ukrainian Boxer Oleksandr Usyk was detained at Krakow airport and taken into questioning.
Usyk’s wife commented on his detention on her Instagram page: ‘Everything is fine, all is well. Nothing criminal. Oleksandr will explain everything himself soon,’ she wrote pic.twitter.com/fP8oT690mh
— Voice of the innocent (@AliBukhari10043) September 17, 2024
Promoter Alex Krassyuk also told Telegraph Sport: “There was a misunderstanding. Usyk was not arrested and he’s free. The issue is resolved already.”
The incident reportedly took place at Poland’s Krakow Airport ahead of Usyk travelling to London for Saturday’s fight at Wembley between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
That is for the IBF title Usyk vacated this summer after beating Tyson Fury in May to become undisputed champion of the world.
Usyk still holds the WBC, WBA and WBO belts, which he will defend in a rematch against Fury on December 21.
The Ukrainian vacated his IBF title after agreeing to fight Fury again instead of facing mandatory challenger Dubois.
Usyk would have been stripped of the title had he not given it up, having seen a request to keep it for the Fury rematch denied under strict IBF rules.
The 37-year-old’s victory in the first fight between the pair made him boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight champion since Britain’s Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Usyk has also twice beaten Joshua, for whom victory over Dubois should pave the way for a third crack at his nemesis or else a long-awaited all-British showdown with Fury.
Saturday night’s fight at Wembley will take place in front of 96,000 people, a record for a boxing match in the UK.
