Ukraine’s heavyweight boxer, Oleksandr Usyk, defeated kickboxer Rico Verhoeven, in the 11th round to defend his WBC heavyweight title.
The fight which held at Giza Necropolis in Giza, Egypt saw The Cat survive a huge scare from the Dutch kickboxer and martial artist.
Verhoeven came close to staging one of boxing’s biggest upsets in just his second professional fight. The Dutchman intimidated and overpowered his Ukrainian opponent.
Usyk, undefeated unified heavyweight champion, was trailing on the scorecards as the fight headed into the second-to-last round, but, launched an uppercut to turn the game around for himself.
Verhoeven was sent to the canvas by the uppercut for the first time, followed by series of punches that forced the referee to wave it off at 2:59 seconds of round 11.
Usyk came under pressure on the ropes as the Dutch boxer threatened the upset; Verhoeven caught Usyk in the 8th round with a powerful right hand, but, the Ukrainian responded with a left late in the round.
In the 9th and 10th rounds, Verhoeven kept mounting pressure on Usyk, but, the Ukrainian survived all and released the decisive punches in the 11th round to retain his WBC title.
Celebrating his victory, Usyk wrote on X: “An exciting fight, a worthy opponent and a unique location right by the pyramids – an event that will definitely go down in history!”
Photo: Usyk fights Verhoeven. Oleksandr Usyk defends WBC world title against Rico Verhoeven
