What To Know
- It would have been the biggest upset in modern boxing history, but WBC World Heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk found a way to pull out a win against former world champion kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.
- Verhoeven dominated the scorecards in his second professional boxing bout against the massive favorite Usyk, but Usyk managed to score a controversial TKO at the end of the 11th round.
- Usyk said he would consider a rematch as well as a fight with mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel
In a remarkable turn of events that will take time to process, former world champion kickboxer Rico Verhoeven channeled the spirit of Buster Douglas, and was just three and a half minutes from scoring the biggest upset in boxing history.
Instead, Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine (25-0, 16 KOs) managed to rally at the end of the 11th round, stopping Verhoeven of the Netherlands (2-1, 1 KOs) to avoid disaster, defending his WBC World Heavyweight belt along with the Ring Magazine belt in a ring set up in front of the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt.
Usyk put the experience into context against the hardships his family and friends face daily in war-torn Ukraine.
“Salaam aleikum. Thank you so much,” said Usyk. “For me, it’s very important. But I know right now in Ukraine, my people in my country (are being bombed). My people now sitting in bomb shelter. My family, my daughter, to bomb shelter. (She) send me a message. ‘Papa, I love you. You win.’ I’m afraid I say, ‘Oh my God.’ Thank you so much.”
Usyk thanked Verhoeven and his team and gave a touching tribute to his wife. “Katarina, my wife. I love you. You, my light. You, my life. You, my heart.”
Usyk vs Verhoeven Highlights
Usyk Finds A Way To Win
From the opening bell, Verhoeven was the aggressor. Observers are used to Usyk being a slow starter weren’t alarmed to see Verhoeven winning the first two rounds with effective aggression, and solid jab followed by power shots.
But something extraordinary was taking place as Verhoeven continued to dominate Usyk, or at least give as good as he got through the middle rounds. Usyk seemed to buckle down in the fourth round, but the effort was short-lived.
After six months working with trainer Peter Fury, Verhoeven said he had immersed himself in boxing. It showed, and their game plan was working. Verhoeven used his weight to lean on and crowd Usyk – something his trainer’s son, Tyson Fury, employed against Usyk in their fights.
Verhoeven’s advantage was in redirecting the power from his legs, normally accustomed to firing off kicks. They propelled him forward on a solid foundation, with not a shred of fear against the unified heavyweight champion Usyk.
Usyk’s footwork failed him. He was flat-footed, a description no one has ever used to describe the champion. He couldn’t land to the body of Verhoeven, who was willing to use his size to lean on Usyk, tiring him and setting him up to be hit.
Halfway through the fight, Verhoeven appeared to be rolling up rounds on the scorecards. If Verhoeven were to win another few rounds, Usyk would need to deliver a knockout to win.
Heading For a Heavyweight Cliff
The train kept rolling as Verhoeven’s conditioning held up, surely fueled by adrenaline and the possibility of crossing an improbable finish line to make boxing history.
In desperation to find a solution, Usyk switched to a southpaw stance. It made no difference. Another round went to Verhoeven.
Open scoring was being used during the bout. After eight rounds, the judges inexplicably had the fight even, 76 – 76.
“Work behind the feints. Don’t make mistakes, don’t tire yourself. Jump around on your feet,” said a calm Peter Fury in Verhoeven’s corner after the ninth round.
Usyk began the tenth with some energy, but Verhoeven turned it around, landing heavy hands in the final 30 seconds for the judges to note and remember. Fury reminded Verhoeven he couldn’t switch off, even for a second.
Usyk Finds A Way To Win
What separates champions from contenders is their ability to find a will and a way to win. They muster the determination to make it happen. Men of faith like Usyk also credit their relationship with God. In Usyk’s case, he is also fighting for an entire nation at war. He knows the people of his country face far worse on a daily basis, and he could not fail them.
Needing a knockout to win, Usyk managed to turn the fight around in the final minute of round 11. With Verhoeven still coming on, Usyk landed a trio of uppercuts, ending with a right uppercut that hit pay dirt, dropping Verhoeven with 34 seconds left in the round.
Verhoeven got to his feet quickly. After the count, referee Mark Lyson located Verhoeven’s mouthpiece on the canvas. Another ten seconds rolled by as Peter Fury cleaned off the mouthpiece and gave it back to Verhoeven. In the neutral corner, Usyk complained about the break. With ten seconds left, the fight resumed. Usyk unloaded everything he had left. With Verhoeven beaten up along the ropes, the bell sounded just a fraction after Lyson stepped in to stop the fight. The time given was 2:59 of the round, but it was truthfully more like 3:01.
Asked whether he knew he was behind on the cards at the time of the stoppage, Usyk shrugged it off. “I just boxing, you know. There’s my right uppercut, bam, and bam, bam, bam. Thank you God, Jesus Christ. Thank you, thank you so much.”
Respect for Rico Verhoeven
No one gave Verhoeven much of a chance in this bout. He made the critics eat their words with the same fury he made Usyk eat his punches. While Verhoeven isn’t taking the formal titles home, he has won the respect of boxing fans around the world. Call him the People’s Champion without question for his effort. Verhoeven can now call himself a boxer with no hesitation.
Verhoeven still had a smile on his face after the loss. Moral victories are overrated, but Verhoeven deserves to savor this one and his chance to savage the critics.
Verhoeven thought the stoppage was too early but didn’t complain.”We were so close, you know. Let me at least go out on my shield, or let us go into the 12th, you know? I thought we were pretty equal on the scorecards. That’s at least what I felt like.”
Still smiling, Verhoeven said, “I’m very proud, very thankful for everybody who came out. We’re at the pyramids, guys! Tonight, we all wrote history!”
Moments later, trainer Peter Fury took the loss in stride, focusing on just how far Verhoeven had come in six months of hard training.
“Look, I think the stoppage was early, but at the end of the day, he was tired. He was fatigued. It was the 11th round, wasn’t it? Could he make the 12th? Probably not, but the stoppage was premature.
“But look, this guy, Rico Verhoeven is unbelievable!” declared Fury. “What a performance to do what he’s done with Oleksandr Usyk, because I rate Oleksandr Usyk as a great fighter, and he’s a great human being as well. So, I can’t speak highly enough of him, but Rico done everybody proud.”
Critics who were angry Usyk was “wasting” a fight on Verhoeven aren’t looking so good now, but Fury said he understood their skepticism.
READ MORE: Monumental Undercard Upsets In Egypt Saturday
Awkward Talk About The Future For Usyk
Promoters had already scripted a showdown in the ring after a Usyk win with mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel of Germany. With that script rewritten by Verhoeven, it would have been fitting to forget about teeing that up.
But – awkward. Here stood the bridesmaid Kabayel, expecting the confirmation of a fight with Usyk. After a halting attempt to get it started, followed by some frantic whispering between Turki Alalshikh and Rick Reeno of The Ring, it brought to mind the exchange between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua a few months ago after Fury defeated Aslanbek Makhmudov, but Joshua refused to play along without a signed deal.
There are now some options. There will be calls for a possible rematch. Kabayel certainly deserves his long-awaited title fight. But for once, let’s allow what happened in the shadow of the Pyramids to sink in this weekend. When you’re in front of monuments that have stood firm for thousands of years, we can wait a few days for this discussion.
Note to Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing and Frank Warren of Queensberry: Someone needs to sign Rico Verhoeven to a multi-fight boxing deal, stat.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist with more than four dozen awards for both written and video coverage from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and San Diego Press Club, where she is the past president. She is the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the BWAA. She is the Boxing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.