GLENDALE, Ariz. – Oleksandr Usyk’s next fight is not dissimilar to the novelty attraction that was afforded his championship predecessor.
BoxingScene has confirmed that none of Usyk’s alphabet heavyweight titles are at stake (so far) for Usyk’s recently announced showdown with Dutch kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven. Their scheduled May 23 bout drew scrutiny for its billing as a WBC title fight, though the sanctioning body was quick to dismiss that claim.
“The WBC fully supports this crossover fight,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed to BoxingScene. “It will be a ‘WBC special event’ and we will create an unbelievable [ceremonial] belt featuring the elements of the pyramids of Egypt.”
For now, the significance of Usyk-Verhoeven will be its backdrop. The DAZN pay-per-view headliner (free for DAZN Ultimate subscribers) will take place in the shadows of the Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Usyk, 24-0 (15 KOs), is the recognized lineal, Ring, WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight champion. Despite billing to the contrary, the classification of his clash with Verhoeven – one of the greatest kickboxers of all time, who will enter his second pro boxing match – is similar to the status surrounding Tyson Fury’s October 2023 crossover fight with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The fight topped Riyadh Season’s boxing launch show. Riyadh Season head Turki Alalshikh and Sela will finance Usyk-Verhoeven.
Pre-fight reaction to Fury-Ngannou was largely critical, many expressing disgust that Fury – the unbeaten lineal and WBC heavyweight champ at the time – would take on such a perceived mismatch given his standing.
The bout turned out to be anything but a mismatch. In fact, Ngannou floored Fury in the third-round and came within a whisker of pulling off one of the greatest upsets in boxing history.
Fury escaped with a split decision victory – his last win to date. His WBC belt was not at stake, though opinion is split on whether the fight was recognized as a lineal championship defense. Regardless, it didn’t carry any sanctioning body involvement – just its friendly support.
“The WBC supported Fury vs. [Ngannou], which turned out to be very competitive,” noted Sulaiman. “We have full respect of Rico as a legendary kickboxing heavyweight champion.”
Ngannou made his pro debut versus Fury. His lone other boxing match after that ended in disaster when he was annihilated inside two rounds by former two-time unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua.
Verhoeven has one prior pro boxing match to his name. It came in 2014, when Verhoeven scored a second-round knockout of Janos Finfera in Darmstadt, Germany.
On that same evening, less than three hours away, Usyk – two years removed from his Olympic gold medal haul in 2012 London – won his third pro bout, a third-round knockout of Ben Nsafoah in Oberhausen, Germany.
Usyk would go on to fully unify the 200lbs division, courtesy of his running the tables in the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament. He has since twice accomplished the same at heavyweight, earning the Ring, WBA, IBF and WBO titles in his first of two wins over Joshua before adding the WBC belt in his epic May 2024 clash with Fury in Riyadh. Usyk defeated Fury for a second time later that December before he earned a repeat knockout over Daniel Dubois last July 19 in London.
Usyk’s past six fights have all involved two-bout sets with Joshua, Fury and Dubois. All but one took place on the road or in Saudi Arabia; the exception was his August 2023 meeting with Dubois in front of a pro-Ukraine crowd in Wroclaw, Poland. Nearly his entire cruiserweight run also took place on his opponent’s home soil.
Given the long, hard road to the top, Usyk has his share of support – even amid a swarm of criticism – in taking on this fight. The common takeaway has been that it should not be a heavyweight title fight, nor should he be permitted to hold the titles hostage.
For example, Agit Kabayel holds the interim version of the WBC heavyweight title and is guaranteed the next shot at Usyk after this fight. BoxingScene has confirmed that discussions are already in place to possibly get Kabayel in the ring around that same time so that he and Usyk can head straight into a title consolidation.
Murat Gassiev, who holds a secondary version of the WBA belt, suffered his first defeat at the hands of Usyk in their July 2018 undisputed 200lbs championship in Moscow. WBA officials have yet to call for a title consolidation bout, nor have they really commented on Usyk taking on this fight.
Usyk has yet to seek permission or sanctioning from the IBF. It’s clear that the WBC is involved, though just not in the form of having to approve a title fight request.
“At this moment, there has not been discussion of a request to be a title defense,” Sulaiman confirmed. “It’s just a special event involving the WBC heavyweight champion.”
