Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk defended his World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA, with the prefix "super").
In a 12-round match held at the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, he defeated Dutchman Rico Verhoeven by technical knockout in the 11th round.
The fight was more contested than many fans expected. Contrary to expectations, Verhoeven looked competitive and put pressure on his opponent for most of the fight. The Dutchman took advantage of his height, moving forward and applying pressure, working at a high pace. Usyk counterattacked, but was unable to cope with his opponent's activity.
Usyk's skills began to manifest themselves only in the later rounds. He won the 10th round cleanly and knocked out Verhoeven in the 11th. Verhoeven continued the fight, but after a series of blows from the Ukrainian, the referee decided that the Dutchman was unable to respond and stopped the fight. The fight was stopped one second before the end of the 11th round.
At the time of the interruption of the match, two judges had the score tied - 95-95, 95-95, while the third had it in favor of Verhoeven - 96-94.
The 39-year-old Usyk defended his WBA world title for the sixth time, his WBC title for the third time and his IBF title for the first time. The IBF and WBA have previously announced that they will consider the title defenses successful if Usyk wins, but Verhoeven will not be able to collect them if he wins. After the fight, the Ukrainian will have to make a mandatory defense of his IBF belt within 180 days. Last November, the Ukrainian vacated his belt from the World Boxing Organization (WBO), thereby stripping him of his undisputed world heavyweight title.
In his last fight in July 2025, Usyk defeated Briton Daniel Dubois to become the undisputed world champion for the second time. After his first fight with Briton Tyson Fury in 2024, in which he became the absolute world champion for the first time, Usyk vacated his IBF belt due to his refusal to make a voluntary defense.
In 2021, Usyk won his IBF, WBA and WBO belts from Briton Anthony Joshua by decision, and in 2022 he defended them for the first time, defeating the same opponent by decision in a rematch. In June 2023, Usyk defended his belts for the second time, defeating Dubois. He has since defeated Fury twice by decision. The Ukrainian remains undefeated in the professional ring with 25 wins (16 by knockout).
Usyk previously held the WBO, IBF, WBA and WBC championship belts in the 90.71 kg (200 lb) weight category. He is the winner of the first season of the World Boxing Super Series, where he defeated Russian Murat Gassiev in the final, unifying four championship belts. This was his ninth fight at heavyweight, a division in which he debuted in October 2019.
The 37-year-old Verhoeven is one of the best kickboxers in the world, with a record of 66 wins (21 by knockout) and 11 losses. He held the Glory heavyweight title from 2013 to 2025. He has won 26 consecutive fights under the Glory banner as champion. Verhoeven also holds the organization's record for most title fight wins (14). This was his second professional boxing fight, having suffered his first loss and one knockout victory.
According to the Dutch publication Panorama, Usyk will receive $100 million for this fight, while Verhoeven will receive $15 million.