GIZA, Egypt, May 23 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s unbeaten heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk stopped Dutch former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven with one second left in the penultimate round of a WBC title fight on Saturday to avoid one of the greatest boxing upsets of all time.
The ‘Glory in Giza’ fight at the Pyramids of Egypt was considered a mismatch, but Verhoeven, whose sole previous professional boxing fight was 12 years ago, tore up the script in mind-boggling fashion from the opening bell.
It took until the fourth for Usyk to have a round that was clearly his, but the champion was unable to capitalise on it with the bigger and heavier Verhoeven still taking the fight to him.
With Usyk tipping the scales heavier than ever before, and looking strangely lethargic at times, the 39-year-old Ukrainian went into the penultimate round needing to pull something out of the bag to be sure of a win most had taken for granted.
Scorecards published by The Ring magazine afterwards showed two of the three judges had the fight tied 95-95 going into the 11th of 12 rounds and the other had Verhoeven ahead 96-94.
STOPPED AT TWO MINUTES AND 59 SECONDS
The decisive moment came right at the end, with Usyk dropping Verhoeven with a right uppercut and the Dutchman beating the 10 count but not the referee, who stepped in to wave off further punishment.
The ring announcer timed the stoppage at two minutes and 59 seconds of round 11.
“I thought it was an early stoppage, but in the end it’s not up to me,” Verhoeven, 37, told DAZN. “The referee knows that we are almost at the end of the round, so or let me go out on my shield or let the bell go.
“But you know … I was already super thankful for the opportunity as well,” he added, pitching for a rematch.
Verhoeven was fighting only for the WBC belt, with Usyk risking also the loss of his WBA and IBF ones, which would have been declared vacant titles had he been beaten.
In the end, the 39-year-old Ukrainian extended his record to 25 unbeaten fights and retained all three titles.
“This fight was hard. It was a good fight. I was just boxing, my right uppercut, bang. Bang, bang, bang. Thank you, God,” he said, with Britain’s former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and Hollywood action star Jason Statham in the crowd.
“Right now, in Ukraine, my people and my country – there is bombing. My people are sitting in bomb shelters. My family. My daughter sent me a message: ‘Papa, I love you, you win. I’m afraid.’ I said, ‘Oh my God’.”
Victory for Verhoeven would have been one of the biggest shocks in the sport’s history, surpassing Mike Tyson’s 1990 defeat by journeyman James “Buster” Douglas.
Usyk, a 2012 Olympic champion and consummate professional, had been expected to wrap things up by the half distance, at least in the estimation of some experts. Others expected an even earlier deadline.
Verhoeven did his ring walk in the open-air arena as a pharaoh, flanked by others holding flaming torches with the Pyramids illuminated behind them.
Usyk adopted a more gladiatorial look, wearing a golden helmet and the outfit of a Roman centurion, as an array of fireworks lit up the night sky. But the fight was one of his toughest, and he struggled to deal with an awkward opponent who hit hard and showed few signs of crumbling.
“Thank you so much, Rico. You are an amazing fighter,” said Usyk.
(Additional reporting by Mohamed Yossry in Cairo, writing by Alan Baldwin in London; Editing by Ken Ferris and William Mallard)
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