Usyk avoids shock defeat with 11th-round stoppage of Verhoeven

Oleksandr Usyk stopped Rico Verhoeven with one second left in the penultimate round of a WBC heavyweight title fight in Egypt. The bout at the pyramids was expected to be a mismatch, but Verhoeven performed unexpectedly well from the opening bell. Usyk had a clearly dominant round only in the fourth, yet he could not capitalize as Verhoeven continued to press despite being the lighter, less experienced boxer. Usyk entered round 11 needing a decisive finish, with scorecards showing the fight tied or Verhoeven slightly ahead. The stoppage came after Usyk dropped Verhoeven with a right uppercut, and the referee waved off further punishment near the end of the round. Verhoeven said the stoppage felt early but accepted the outcome and sought a rematch. Usyk risked losing additional belts if he had been beaten.

"Oleksandr Usyk stopped Dutch former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven with one second left in the penultimate round of a WBC title fight to avoid one of the greatest boxing upsets of all time. The Glory in Giza fight, held at the pyramids of Egypt on Saturday, 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 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. The decisive moment came right at the end when Usyk dropped Verhoeven with a right uppercut and the Dutchman beat 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."

"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. 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 let me go out on my shield or let the bell go."

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