Published May 24, 2026
Undefeated world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine avoided the biggest upset in boxing history by stopping former Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven with one second left in the penultimate round of their WBC title fight.
Saturday’s “Glory at Giza” bout at the Pyramids of Egypt was considered a mismatch, but Verhoeven, whose only professional boxing bout was 12 years ago, broke the script in surprising fashion from the opening bell.
It took until the fourth round for Usyk to clearly have his own round, but the champion was unable to capitalize and the bigger, heavier Verhoeven was still putting up a fight.
With Usyk heavier than ever and looking oddly lethargic at times, the 39-year-old went into the penultimate round and needed to pull something out of the bag to secure the victory that most people thought he deserved.
Scorecards later published by The Ring found that two of the three judges had the fight tied 95-95 through 11 of 12 rounds, while the other had Verhoeven leading 96-94.
The decisive moment came near the end, when Usyk dropped Verhoeven with a right uppercut and the Dutchman broke the 10 count, but the referee did not intervene to avoid punishment.
The ring announcer called the stoppage at 2:59 of round 11.
“I thought it was an early break, but in the end it’s not up to me,” Verhoeven, 37, told DAZN. “The referee knows we are nearing the end of the round, so either let me put out the shield or let me ring the bell.
“But, you know, I was already so grateful for the opportunity,” he added, pitching for a rematch.
shock averted
While Verhoeven was only fighting for the WBC belt, Usyk also risked losing the WBA and IBF belts, which would have been declared vacant had he lost.
In the end, the 39-year-old Ukrainian extended his record to 25 fights and undefeated, retaining all three titles.
“This fight was hard. It was a good fight. I was just boxing. Right uppercut, bang. Bang, bang, bang. Thank God,” he said from the crowd, along with former British heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and Hollywood action star Jason Statham.
“Right now in Ukraine, my people and my country are being bombed. My people are sitting in bomb shelters. My family. My daughter sent me a message: ‘Dad, I love you. You win. I’m scared.'” I said, ‘Oh my god.’ ”
Verhoeven’s victory would have been one of the biggest shocks in sports history, surpassing Mike Tyson’s loss to journeyman James “Buster” Douglas in 1990.
Usyk, the 2012 Olympic champion and a consummate professional, was expected to finish by the halfway mark, at least in the estimation of some experts. Some hoped for an even faster victory.
Verhoeven walked in the open air arena like a pharaoh with his ring, beside him other people with burning torches, behind which the pyramids were illuminated.
Usyk adopted a more gladiator-like look, donning a golden helmet and Roman centurion costume as fireworks lit up the night sky. However, that fight was one of his toughest, as he struggled to deal with a difficult opponent who attacked hard and showed little signs of crumbling.
“Thank you so much, Rico. You’re a great fighter,” Usyk said.
