Usyk stops – Oleksandr Usyk survived a late scare to stop Rico Verhoeven in the 11th round, moments after Verhoeven beat the count near the bell in a chaotic finish at the Pyramids of Giza. On the undercard, Cuban Frank Sanchez knocked out Olympic silver medalist Richard T
GIZA, Egypt — Oleksandr Usyk didn’t just have to fight Rico Verhoeven on Saturday night. He had to endure the kind of moment that can flip a heavyweight title fight in an instant.
At the Pyramids of Giza. the unbeaten Ukrainian heavyweight champion weathered a scare. then forced the stoppage in the 11th round. Verhoeven pushed him hard and carried the fight into the late rounds before the ending turned chaotic. Usyk dropped the Dutch challenger late in the penultimate round. and the referee waved it off after Usyk pounced when Verhoeven beat the count shortly before the bell.
Verhoeven, 37, was still in the ring moments later when he tried to make sense of the timing. “I thought it was an early stoppage but in the end it’s not up to me,” he said.
Usyk, 25 and now 25-0 with 16 knockouts, holds the WBC, WBA and IBF belts. For Verhoeven, 37, it marked only his second time fighting as a boxer, after a reputation built in kickboxing.
That credibility switch was made even sharper by what followed on the undercard, where Frank Sanchez delivered a statement of his own. The Cuban heavyweight knocked out U.S. contender Richard Torrez Jr. in the second round, dropping the Californian with a crunching right to the face.
Torrez, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics, tried to beat the count but stumbled back down to the canvas. It was the first pro loss of his career after 14 victories. Sanchez improved to 26-1 with 19 knockouts, and the victory put him in line for an IBF title fight.
Britain’s Hamzah Sheeraz then grabbed a title of his own, winning the vacant WBO super middleweight championship. Sheeraz, who came in at 23-0-1 with 19 knockouts, stopped Alem Begic in the second round, finishing the German with a body shot.
In the women’s division, Mizuki Hiruta of Japan dominated Mai Soliman over 10 rounds to keep her WBO junior bantamweight title. Hiruta won by unanimous decision, preserving the belt after a full stay at the top level.
Across the night, the message was simple: even when the balance looks right for one fighter, heavyweight fights can punish any lapse—especially at the edge of the bell.
Oleksandr Usyk Rico Verhoeven Richard Torrez Jr. Frank Sanchez Hamzah Sheeraz Alem Begic Mizuki Hiruta Mai Soliman WBC WBA IBF WBO heavyweight title undercard results Pyramids of Giza