Usyk to defend WBC title against Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids in Egypt

Oleksandr Usyk will return to the ring in egypt to defend his WBC heavyweight title against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in a bout billed as "Glory in Giza. " The fight is set for 23 May at the Pyramids of Giza and will be streamed live on DAZN.

Usyk and Verhoeven to meet at the Pyramids in Egypt

The contest is scheduled for 23 May and is being promoted as a world heavyweight title fight staged "under the shadow of ancient giants" at the Pyramids of Giza. Organisers have dubbed the event "Glory in Giza. " One outlet has described it as the first title fight held in Egypt. Exact details of the site remain light beyond the billed backdrop.

Fight date, venue and broadcast

Promoters set the date for 23 May and say the bout will be streamed live on DAZN. The venue is the Pyramids of Giza, with much of the promotion leaning on the extraordinary setting rather than fuller logistical detail. The event will be held for the WBC heavyweight championship.

Champion's record and recent form

Usyk is unbeaten in his professional career and is a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion who currently holds the WBA, WBC and IBF belts. He has not fought since a fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois at Wembley in July.

Verhoeven's background and record discrepancies

Rico Verhoeven, a 36-year-old Dutch heavyweight, spent more than a decade as a top kickboxer and has only one professional boxing bout since 2014. Published accounts list his kickboxing record differently: one account notes 76 fights and 66 wins before he announced his departure from the sport in November, while another lists his record as 66-10 with 21 KOs and says he won his lone 2014 professional boxing bout by knockout. Verhoeven has sparred with Tyson Fury in the past.

Reactions from Usyk, Verhoeven and others

Usyk praised Verhoeven, saying he respects people who reach the top of their sport and calling Rico "a powerful athlete and a great champion, " while stressing that boxing has different rules and different kings. Verhoeven said he spent 12 years as the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing champion, that the time strengthened his hunger, and that chasing Usyk represented the highest challenge available: "Undisputed versus undisputed. The best facing the best. "

Fans and fellow fighters have been vocal. Fabio Wardley was mentioned as a name Usyk avoided when he vacated his WBO title rather than face Wardley. Wardley is scheduled to defend the WBO title against Daniel Dubois on 9 May in Manchester and expressed disappointment at Usyk's opponent, saying he did not feel the match-up was a "real, genuine challenge" but acknowledged Usyk's latitude to make his own choices.

Questions over mismatch and the spectacle

Commentary around the bout calls it a mammoth mismatch for a WBC heavyweight title fight, a contrast drawn with recent spectacle-driven match-ups such as Anthony Joshua's bout with Jake Paul. That event was framed as spectacle and streamed widely; one mention noted the Joshua–Paul fight reached a Netflix audience estimated at roughly 300 million subscribers. Observers also point to the 2023 example of Tyson Fury being dropped by boxing debutant Francis Ngannou as evidence that upsets can happen, though Usyk's methodical style was described as unlikely to repeat Fury's errors.

Usyk's return to the ring on 23 May at the Pyramids of Giza is the next confirmed milestone, with Wardley's 9 May defence of the WBO title against Daniel Dubois in Manchester occurring beforehand on the boxing calendar.