Usyk survives – Oleksandr Usyk retained his WBC belt with an 11th-round stoppage over kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in Giza, surviving a scare in the closing stages before a referee ended the bout with one second left. Verhoeven, fighting in only his second pro match, demanded a r
Oleksandr Usyk knew he was in trouble when the counter came from the man everyone thought could flip the heavyweight picture with one night in the spotlight. In front of the Egyptian pyramids in Giza—where Rico Verhoeven was competing in just his second professional fight—Usyk’s perfect build-up to another world-title moment suddenly looked fragile.
The Ukrainian had repeatedly found himself on the ropes, forced to absorb pressure as Verhoeven rose to the occasion and flirted with one of boxing’s biggest shocks. Then, in the penultimate round, Usyk landed a stunning left uppercut that sent Verhoeven down.
Verhoeven rose anyway, but Usyk refused to let him settle. He poured in another barrage of blows and the referee stepped in to stop the fight with one second remaining of the 11th round.
The result spared Usyk from an upset that would have been almost impossible to imagine: he retained his WBC belt and preserved his unbeaten professional record. Anthony Joshua was in attendance, watching a bout that turned from a test of transitions into something harsher, closer to survival.
After the win, Usyk’s thoughts went to home. “Thank you so much. I know right now, Ukrainian people are sitting in the bomb shelter, my daughter too, in a bomb shelter, sent me a message saying, ‘Papa, I love you, you will win’,” he said.
He thanked everyone around the moment too. “Thank you so much, Rico. You are an amazing fighter. Thank you so much to your team. My team, I love you. My wife, I love you. You are my light and my heart.”
“This fight was hard. It was a good fight. Thank you, God.”
For Verhoeven, the fight ended not just in defeat, but in argument. The Dutchman admitted disappointment at what he felt was an early stoppage. insisting he believed he could have recovered in time to see out the round. “I thought it was an early stoppage but in the end it’s not up to me,” Verhoeven said.
He acknowledged the bigger stage Usyk had offered him, but made clear he wanted the chance to finish the way he pictured. “I was already super thankful for this opportunity for Usyk to take this fight.”
Verhoeven said Usyk’s camp had indicated the desire for a rematch, but he framed the decision as beyond his control. “His excellency told me he wants a rematch, but it’s not up to me. Let’s see what happens.”
He pushed for more time in the final moments, calling for either a longer look at the danger—or for the referee to let the bout go further. “I wanted the referee to let me go out on his shield or let me go in the twelfth. I felt we were pretty even on the scorecards.”
Still, he carried pride out of the ring. “I am really thankful for everyone who came out. I am super proud of my performance and hopefully, the boxing world embraces me as a boxer. I am amazingly happy to be here.”
Usyk’s victory may have been the clean headline, but the lasting noise came from the timing. With the referee’s intervention arriving with one second left in the 11th. the question Verhoeven leaves behind is simple and loud: would he have been able to recover if the fight had been allowed to run another heartbeat?.
Oleksandr Usyk Rico Verhoeven Anthony Joshua WBC belt heavyweight title fight Giza boxing 11th round stoppage controversial stoppage rematch demand
One second left?? That’s wild. Refs always seem dramatic in these headline moments.
I swear every time I see Usyk he’s getting hit like crazy then suddenly it’s over. Verhoeven looked like he could’ve ended it for sure… but the ref stepped in at literally the last second.
So basically the fight got stopped because of time, not because he was actually done? Like he wasn’t knocked out but the clock saved Usyk? Also why was Rico only in his second pro match, that seems unfair lol.
The part about the bomb shelter messed me up. Like he’s fighting a heavyweight fight and thinking about his daughter… I don’t even care about belts at that point. And Joshua being there just makes it feel like a movie, but then the referee almost ruins everything with one second.