Oleksandr Usyk narrowly defended his heavyweight world title in a contentious late stoppage victory over Rico Verhoeven. The fight took place in front of the pyramids, where Usyk faced kickboxing legend Verhoeven in what was considered a title defense, despite Verhoeven having only his second professional boxing match. Verhoeven, the Dutch veteran, controlled much of the bout and seemed to be leading on the scorecards going into the penultimate round.
In a dramatic turn of events, Usyk knocked down Verhoeven with an uppercut towards the end of the round. Although Verhoeven got back up before the count, the referee controversially halted the fight with just one second remaining after another series of punches. Replays later indicated that the British official, Mark Lyson, ended the fight after the bell had already sounded.
Following the match, Usyk praised Verhoeven for his skills, stating, “Rico, you are an amazing fighter. It was a tough and good fight.” Verhoeven expressed disappointment over the stoppage, mentioning, “It was an early stoppage, but it’s not in my hands. I think the referee knew we were close to the end of the round, or he could have let me continue fighting.”
The fight saw Verhoeven landing the first significant shot of the night with a right hand early on. While Usyk initially took his time to engage, Verhoeven claimed the first round with effective aggression. As the bout progressed, both fighters exchanged powerful blows, with Usyk finding success with his uppercuts, and Verhoeven demonstrating his strength and resilience.
Despite Verhoeven’s strong performance throughout the fight, Usyk’s relentless attacks in the later rounds proved decisive. In a pivotal moment in the penultimate round, Usyk delivered a series of punches that sent Verhoeven to the canvas, ending his chance to come out for the final round.
In other matches on the undercard, Hamzah Sheeraz secured the WBO super-middleweight world title with a second-round knockout of Alem Begic. Jack Catterall claimed a portion of the WBA welterweight world title by outpointing Shakhram Giyasov, setting up a potential clash with ‘super’ champion Rolly Romero. Additionally, rising American heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr suffered a knockout defeat to Frank Sanchez, who earned a shot at a world title with an impressive second-round stoppage.