Oleksandr Usyk narrowly retained his heavyweight world title in a contentious late stoppage victory over Rico Verhoeven. The fight took place in front of the pyramids, with Verhoeven, a kickboxing legend, participating in only his second professional boxing match. Despite Verhoeven’s impressive performance, Usyk managed to drop him with an uppercut towards the end of the match. The referee then controversially halted the fight with just a second left on the clock, with replays indicating that the decision came after the bell had sounded.
Both fighters acknowledged the tough battle, with Usyk praising Verhoeven’s skills and Verhoeven expressing disappointment over the timing of the stoppage. Verhoeven started strong in the early rounds, landing significant shots, but Usyk gradually found his rhythm and landed crucial blows as the fight progressed.
In other matches on the card, Hamzah Sheeraz secured the WBO super-middleweight world title with a dominant second-round victory over Alem Begic. Jack Catterall claimed a portion of the WBA welterweight world title with a convincing win against Shakhram Giyasov, setting up a potential clash with ‘super’ champion Rolly Romero. Additionally, Frank Sanchez delivered a stunning second-round knockout against Richard Torrez Jr, earning a shot at a world title.
