Paweł Kakietek

Paweł Kakietek was a Polish amateur boxer and police officer, a six time national champion and one of the leading Polish middleweights at the turn of the century, who represented Poland at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. His death at the age of 51, after a battle with stomach cancer, was confirmed by the Polish Boxing Association on Saturday 7 November 2026.

He was born on 2 July 1975 in Milanówek, near Warsaw, the son of Krzysztof Kakietek and Sabina Urbańska. At the age of 14 he joined Gwardia Warszawa, the famous Warsaw police sports club, where he was coached and shaped by Paweł Skrzecz, the 1980 Olympic silver medallist. He showed promise early, winning a bronze medal at the Polish junior championships at 17 and the junior title a year later, before becoming Polish under 20 champion in 1995.

As a senior he was a fixture at the top of Polish boxing for most of a decade. He won the national light middleweight title in 1996 and 1997, and then dominated the middleweight division, taking the Polish title four years in a row from 1999 to 2002. He also won silver in 1998 and bronze in 1994 and 1995, and helped Gwardia to the team silver medal in 1999. His finals against Robert Gortat became part of Polish boxing folklore; the Polish Boxing Association later said their bouts were a model of tactical skill, mid range fighting and resilience.

Internationally he stood on the podium four times at the Feliks Stamm Memorial in Warsaw, one of the most prestigious amateur tournaments in Europe, winning gold in 1999 and 2000. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000 he stopped China's Abuduyeheman in his opening middleweight bout, the contest being halted with Kakietek leading 18 to 3, before losing to the American Jeff Lacy, who later became IBF world super middleweight champion as a professional. Kakietek was classified ninth. In 2001 he boxed at the World Championships in Belfast. By May 2002 he had fought 182 bouts, winning 143.

Alongside his sporting career he served in the Polish police, and he continued in the force after leaving the ring. He married Sylwia Grzejszczak in December 2000.

In 2025, after a gastroscopy, he was diagnosed with a malignant stomach tumour. He underwent chemotherapy, and his family and the boxing community raised funds for further treatment through the Siepomaga charity platform. The campaign announced that he had died after a long and difficult fight with cancer, and the Polish Boxing Association said the whole boxing community was in deep mourning for a decorated fighter who for years had been one of the strengths of the national team.