Usyk rescues gruelling victory against Verhoeven with last-gasp stoppage
Ukrainian keeps unbeaten record with 11th-round TKO
Dutch kickboxing great threatened to cause huge upset
Oleksandr Usyk, Ukraine’s unbeaten heavyweight world champion, stopped the Dutch former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven with one second remaining in the penultimate round to avoid what would have been one of the greatest boxing upsets of all time on Saturday.
The WBC title fight at the Pyramids of Giza was considered a mismatch but Verhoeven, whose sole previous professional boxing fight was 12 years ago, tore up the script in mind-boggling fashion from the opening bell and had looked set to win.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/may/24/oleksandr-usyk-rico-verhoeven-late-stoppage-boxing-report">Continue reading...Djokovic survives French Open opener
- Boxing-Usyk avoids shock defeat with 11th round stoppage of Verhoeven The Straits Times —
- Oleksandr Usyk survives scare from Rico Verhoeven to retain heavyweight titles The Japan Times —
- Oleksandr Usyk earns controversial 11th-round stoppage win over kickboxer Rico Verhoeven to retain his WBC belt with Anthony Joshua in support - as Dutchman demands rematch and questions ref's verdict Daily Mail —
- Heavyweight champ avoids shock upset with controversial stoppage ABC News —
- Usyk survives huge scare with 11th round stoppage RTE —