Oleksandr Usyk to face former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven at the Egyptian Pyramids
Oleksandr Usyk, heavyweight champion, will put his heavyweight WBC title on the line... against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.
Ukrainian boxer Olekansr Usyk, heavyweight champion holder of the IBF, WBA, and WBC belts, but not the WBO after relinquishing it last November - Fabio Wardley inherited it - has announced his next match, his first one after defeating Daniel Dubois in July 2025. He will face the 36-year-old Dutch former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, on May 23.
The fight, labelled as "Glory in Giza" (the venue is still unknown, they only said that it will be "under the shadow of ancient giants"), will be Verhoeven's first boxing fight since 2014, and as such has been labelled as "a mammoth mismatch" by boxing specialist Kal Sajad from BBC, because of their different backgrounds.
It has even compared unfavourably to the fight between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua because at the very least, that was an exhibition match, whereas this will have the WBC heavyweight title in line. Can a kickboxer really face an unbeaten heavyweight champion? We will find out on May 23.
