Oleksandr Usyk nearly paid the price for doing what he wanted. Nearly.
The three-time undisputed heavyweight champion survived the biggest scare of his professional career, stopping Rico Verhoeven in the 11th round via TKO to improve to 25-0 with 16 knockouts—and preserve a perfect record that came far closer to ending than anyone expected in front of the pyramids of Giza.
It was not pretty. Two of the three judges had the fight even at 95-95 at the time of the stoppage. The third had it 96-94—for Verhoeven. The Dutchman had given the Ukrainian fits for the better part of 11 rounds, and the scorecards reflected it.
What saved Usyk was the punch he had been setting up all night.
Usyk Lands Fight-Changing Uppercut
With the fight in genuine danger of slipping away, Usyk dropped Verhoeven in the final seconds of the 11th with a right uppercut that sent the kickboxer’s mouthguard flying and put him on the canvas. Verhoeven—completely fatigued and discombobulated—got to his feet on shaky legs with ten seconds remaining, but Usyk swarmed him with a violent barrage. Referee Mark Lyson stepped in and waved it off, officially at 2:59 of the round—a stoppage that appeared to come after the bell and immediately drew protests from Verhoeven’s corner.
“The fight was hard,” Usyk said. “But I just boxed. It was my right uppercut. Bam!”
Verhoeven, widely regarded as one of the greatest kickboxers of all time—he held the Glory Kickboxing heavyweight title for 4,220 days—had only boxed once professionally before this fight, back in 2014. None of that mattered once the bell rang. The 37-year-old Dutchman entered at 258.7 pounds to Usyk’s 233.3, and he used every bit of that size advantage, charging at the smaller champion with relentless pressure and strafing him with right hands behind jerky, unorthodox movement that Usyk simply could not get a clean read on.
Verhoeven Opens Upset Door
Round 3 looked like it might end things early—Usyk landed a hard uppercut that badly hurt Verhoeven—but the kickboxer showed steel resolve, shook it off, and kept coming. As the rounds wore on, the possibility of a monumental upset stopped being hypothetical. Verhoeven refused to back down. Usyk, 39, looked sluggish and uncertain in ways rarely seen from the man who had systematically dismantled Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Daniel Dubois—twice each.
The final numbers told the story of how competitive it was. Usyk landed 112-for-499 punches—22%—while Verhoeven connected on 113-for-508—also 22%. It was the late blitz, not the body of work, that decided it.
Verhoeven disagreed with the stoppage but kept his composure.
“I thought it was an early stoppage, but in the end, it’s not up to me,” he said. “I believe the referee knows that we’re almost at the end of the round. Let me go out on my shield or let the bell go. That’s what I thought. But like I said, it’s not up to me and I was already super thankful for the opportunity.”
A Choice That Nearly Haunted Usyk
Usyk had chosen this fight deliberately—not out of obligation, but out of desire. After beating the best the heavyweight division had to offer, he wanted something different.
“For the first time, I am doing what I really want to do,” he had told ESPN before the fight. “Not what I must do and not what people expect from me.”
Doing what he wanted almost ended in disaster. He survived. The record stays clean.
As for what comes next, Usyk was presented two options: a rematch with Verhoeven, or a heavyweight showdown with Agit Kabayel. His answer was vintage Usyk.
“Not a problem,” he said. “Let’s do it.”
