Heavyweight boxing king Oleksandr Usyk retained his titles after a dramatic and controversial stoppage victory over kick-boxer Rico Verhoeven with a second left of the 11th round in Egypt on Saturday.

Ukraine's unbeaten heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk stopped Dutch former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven with one second left in the penultimate round of a WBC title fight on Saturday to avoid one of the greatest

Oleksandr Usyk retained his heavyweight title with a late-round victory over Rico Verhoeven on May 24. Usyk, the 38-year-old Ukrainian boxer, defeated the Dutch-born Verhoeven in the 11th round by technical knockout following a close bout fought near the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk survived a scare to earn an 11th-round stoppage against Rico Verhoeven, a Dutch kickboxer who pushed the undefeated Ukrainian to his limits on Saturday. In a chaotic ending,

After Oleksandr Usyk beats Rico Verhoeven to retain his heavyweight world titles, who could he fight next?

Lineal heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) will defend the WBC heavyweight title against kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven (1-0). WBC president Maurcio Sulaiman has talked about the bout.

He absolutely asked for this. Unified Heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk retained his WBA, WBC and The Ring titles yesterday (Sat., May 23, 2026) with a wildly controversial 11th-round TKO stoppage victory over kickboxing superstar Rico Verhoeven in front of the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo,