Usyk to defend WBC title in Egypt against Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza
Oleksandr Usyk will return to the ring on May 23 to defend the WBC heavyweight title against rico verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, a match that pairs boxing's reigning champion with a decorated kickboxer and will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN. The fight matters now because it settles Usyk's immediate next move after a string of high-profile victories and a period of limited options for challengers.
Pyramids of Giza set to host May 23 showdown
The bout takes place at the Pyramids of Giza on May 23 and has been given spectacle-minded branding: organisers have dubbed the fight 'Glory in Giza', while The Ring named the event "Glory of Giza: Undefeated Icons". DAZN will stream the card live and exclusively. The location is described only as being staged "under the shadow of ancient giants"; further logistical details are unclear in the provided context.
Rico Verhoeven's kickboxing record and crossover history
Verhoeven, fighting out of the Netherlands and aged 36, leaves a long kickboxing legacy: 76 professional fights with 66 wins before he announced his departure from the sport in November, a GLORY record often summarized as 66-10. He held the GLORY heavyweight title for 4, 220 days and recorded 13 successful title defenses from 2013 to 2025. Verhoeven has described spending 12 years as the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing champion and has framed the move to boxing as seeking the "highest challenge".
His ring experience outside kickboxing includes one professional boxing bout, a 2014 knockout of Janos Finfera — who entered that fight with a 0-5 record — and a single MMA outing, a 2015 TKO victory over Viktor Bogutzki. He has trained with coach Peter Fury and previously sparred with Tyson Fury. Verhoeven had also been loosely linked with a fight against Anthony Joshua before Joshua's car crash in December.
Oleksandr Usyk's unbeaten record and title status
Usyk arrives unbeaten as a professional at 24-0 with 15 knockouts and is listed at age 39. He holds major belts, including the WBC, WBA and IBF, after a run that reunited the four titles, and he has vacated the WBO title. Usyk last fought in July, stopping Daniel Dubois with a fifth-round knockout at Wembley Stadium. Since 2021 he has beaten Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois two times each, a sequence that has narrowed his pool of high-profile opponents and prompted discussions about potential matchups such as a possible fight with Deontay Wilder; Usyk ultimately chose this alternative test.
Boxing-versus-kickboxing dynamic and camp statements
Usyk has publicly praised Verhoeven's achievements, calling him a "powerful athlete and a great champion" and stressing that "this is boxing — a different game, with its own rules and its own kings. " Verhoeven has described his transition as deliberate, saying he left a long reign at the top with continued hunger to take on "undisputed versus undisputed" — framing the matchup as the best of one sport meeting the best of another.
Matchmaking rationale and broader context
Promoters and analysts point to a practical cause-and-effect: with Usyk having cleared a list of elite opponents and vacated the WBO rather than face contenders such as Fabio Wardley, matchmaking options narrowed and led to accepting a cross-discipline challenge. That constraint helps explain how a kickboxer with one prior professional boxing contest was booked for a WBC world-title fight. What makes this notable is the pairing pits a methodical, unbeaten boxing champion against an opponent with elite striking credentials but limited boxing experience.
The card is layered with precedence and contrast: it follows examples of crossover tests such as Francis Ngannou's boxing debut that unsettled top-flight boxers, and it arrives after public debate about the heavyweight division's available challengers, including names like Agit Kabayel. The fight will also be remembered for its venue and promotional framing, staging a world heavyweight title bout in the shadow of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
