Usyk vs Verhoeven: Oleksandr Usyk to defend WBC title against Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza
Oleksandr Usyk will defend his WBC heavyweight title in May against rico verhoeven, the former kickboxing champion, in a fight scheduled for 23 May at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The contest has been billed by organisers as the "Glory in Giza" event and is described as taking place "under the shadow of ancient giants".
Fight location and date
The headline bout is set for 23 May in Giza, Egypt, with promoters advertising the unusual setting at the Pyramids of Giza. Details of the fight's location are light, other than that it will be "under the shadow of ancient giants".
Rico Verhoeven's background
Rico Verhoeven, 36 years old and from the Netherlands, is a former kickboxing champion who had 76 fights and 66 wins in his kickboxing career before announcing his departure from the sport in November. He spent 12 years as the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing champion and his championship reign in the Glory promotion dated back to 2013. Verhoeven will be boxing for the first time since 2014 when he faces Usyk; he has one professional boxing bout listed, a 2014 knockout victory over Janos Finfera, who had a 0-5 record. Verhoeven has trained with coach Peter Fury and has in the past sparred with Tyson Fury.
Usyk's recent run
Oleksandr Usyk is unbeaten across his 24 professional bouts and will return to the ring in May to defend the WBC heavyweight title. Usyk is a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion and holds the WBA, WBC and IBF belts. In 2024, when he beat Tyson Fury, Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight world champion of boxing's four-belt era and the sport's first undisputed heavyweight king since Lennox Lewis. He repeated a victory over Fury in their rematch and then knocked out Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium last year to reunify the IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles. The Ukrainian hasn't boxed since that victory over Dubois in July and he vacated the WBO title.
What the fighters said
Usyk said: "I truly respect people who reach the very top in their sport. " The champion added that Rico is "one of them - a powerful athlete and a great champion, " and that "being a champion isn't just about belts. It's about years of hard work, discipline and belief. I respect his journey - he's truly the King of Kickboxing. But this is boxing - a different game, with its own rules and its own kings. " In extended remarks Usyk added that he was ready and looking forward to meeting Verhoeven in the ring, calling it "a unique experience for both of us" and saying "a big night is coming. "
Verhoeven said: "I spent 12 years as the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing champion and accomplished everything I set out to accomplish. But staying at the top for that long didn't take away the hunger, it strengthened it. I wasn't looking for comfort, so I started looking for the highest challenge available in another world. Usyk is undisputed in boxing. That's the kind of challenge that motivates me. Undisputed versus undisputed. The best facing the best. "
Context and reactions
The matchup has divided attention because it pairs an unbeaten, decorated boxing champion with a relative novice in boxing. Some commentators describe the fight as extraordinary and frankly bizarre: a world heavyweight title fight staged in the shadow of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. There is also skepticism about the competitiveness of the contest; one assessment in the build-up called it a mammoth mismatch and contrasted the spectacle with other recent atypical fights, noting that at least Anthony Joshua v Jake Paul had been framed as spectacle while this is for the WBC heavyweight title.
Verhoeven had been loosely linked with a bout against Anthony Joshua before the Briton's car crash in December. Observers have noted Usyk's opponents and choices: he vacated his WBO title rather than face Fabio Wardley, and fans have repeatedly mentioned Agit Kabayel as a desired live, unbeaten contender with momentum. The heavyweight cupboard, some argue, is not bare, but the Usyk–Verhoeven fight delivers a sanctioned world-title challenge against a boxing pound-for-pound great.
Past crossover moments are referenced in the wider context: Tyson Fury was dropped and pushed to the brink by boxing debutant Francis Ngannou in 2023, a near-upset that underlines that "anything can happen in the ring, " though the view expressed is that someone as methodical and disciplined as Usyk is unlikely to repeat Fury's errors.
Promoted as "Glory in Giza, " the May 23 fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven will test whether a decorated kickboxer can bridge into a sanctioned world-title boxing challenge, with both fighters and the unusual venue central to the event's narrative.
