Oleksandr Usyk to face kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven in historic Giza boxing bout

Oleksandr Usyk Rico Verhoeven Giza boxing match IBF title warning heavyweight champion

Ukrainian heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk will fight Dutch kick‑boxing legend Rico Verhoeven on 23 May at the Giza pyramids in Egypt, marking the first professional boxing match ever staged at the ancient site. Usyk enters as the unified WBC, WBA and IBF champion, while Verhoeven has limited professional boxing experience.

The International Boxing Federation (IBF) has issued a stern warning: if Usyk loses, his IBF heavyweight title will be vacated immediately. Should Usyk win, the IBF will recognize the WBC’s rotation for mandatory defenses and schedule a compulsory title defense within six months after Usyk fulfills his obligations to the other sanctioning bodies.

Usyk also confirmed he has no plans to fight internet‑celebrity boxer Jake Paul after the Verhoeven clash, focusing instead on defending his traditional heavyweight titles.

Sources

Usik se uskoro bori protiv kickboksačke legende, a iz IBF-a mu je stiglo ozbiljno upozorenje - CroRing [www.croring.com]

3 months ago

Oleksandr Usyk explains why he will not fight Jake Paul after Rico Verhoeven clash [www.independent.co.uk]

3 months ago