Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven live updates, re…
May 23, 2026, 07:24 PM ET Unified heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk scored a knockout victory over former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven on Saturday in front of the pyramids of Giza, Egypt. Usyk’s WBC heavyweight title was on the line, while the bout was contested as an unsanctioned fight by the WBA and IBF. Verhoeven’s…
Unified heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk scored a knockout victory over former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven on Saturday in front of the pyramids of Giza, Egypt.
Usyk’s WBC heavyweight title was on the line, while the bout was contested as an unsanctioned fight by the WBA and IBF. Verhoeven’s decorated kickboxing background and significant size surprised Usyk in the first 10 rounds, but the champion dropped Verhoeven at the end of Round 11, forcing the referee to stop the fight with one second to go.
Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs) entered the fight as a massive -2500 favorite, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
The victory marked Usyk’s first appearance since his second-round stoppage win over Daniel Dubois in July 2025 to reclaim the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Verhoeven, widely regarded as one of the greatest kickboxers of all time, fell short in his return to professional boxing. The Dutch star entered with a 66-10 kickboxing record with 21 knockouts, while his only previous professional boxing bout came in April 2014, when he knocked out Janos Finfera in the second round in Germany.
Andreas Hale, Nick Parkinson and James Regan provided live coverage, including results and round-by-round analysis.
