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.
In the shadow of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Verhoeven had rocked the Ukrainian champion and seemed to be leading before he was dropped and eventually stopped. “I thought it was an early stoppage but in the end it’s not up to me,” Verhoeven told DAZN. “I wanted the referee to let me go out on my shield or let me go in the 12th. I felt we were pretty even on the scorecards.” He said he was thankful for the opportunity and revealed that Usyk had offered him a rematch. “I am super proud of my performance and hopefully, the boxing world embraces me as a boxer,” he added.
Despite having fought the likes of former champions Tyson Fury, Antony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, Usyk was given perhaps his toughest heavyweight fight by a man who had only boxed once before, in 2014. Verhoeven is a legend of kick-boxing but no one expected him to cause the great Usyk so many problems in a boxing bout. “I know right now, Ukrainian people are sitting in the bomb shelter, my daughter too, in a bomb shelter, sent me a message saying, ‘Papa, I love you, you will win’,” said Usyk, who retained the WBA, WBC and IBF belts.
“Thank you so much, Rico. You are an amazing fighter. Thank you so much to your team. My team, I love you. My wife, I love you. You are my light and my heart.
