Rico Verhoeven fought Oleksandr Usyk on May 24, 2026, in a WBC heavyweight title bout held at the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The fight was scheduled for 12 rounds but was stopped controversially one second before the end of the 11th round during a late flurry, with replays suggesting the bell to end the round may have already sounded [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Usyk scored a knockdown in the 11th round that likely secured his victory [5].
Verhoeven’s team lodged an appeal with the World Boxing Council (WBC) over the stoppage the following day [1, 2, 3, 4]. On May 28, Verhoeven publicly called for an apology from boxing officials and demanded a rematch with Usyk [1, 2, 3, 4]. He said, "[I want] just an apology. What else can we do? I can't demand anything else" [1] and added, "Mistakes can be made because we're all human and that's OK. But all I'm looking for actually is: 'yeah, sorry guys, this could have gone differently - this is something we have to look at and hopefully this doesn't happen in the future'. That's it and then let's continue from there and get to the rematch." [2]
Verhoeven called himself "the uncrowned king" and indicated he expects a big opportunity next [4]. Before facing Usyk, he held a professional boxing record of 1-1 and was a former kickboxing world champion for over 4,000 days [1, 5]. Usyk entered the bout undefeated at 25-0 with 16 knockouts and was a two-weight undisputed champion [1, 5]. Some pundits noted Usyk looked heavy and out of shape during the fight [5].
Scorecards from The Ring magazine before the stoppage showed two judges had the fight tied 95-95 and one judge had Verhoeven ahead 96-94 going into round 11 [2, 3, 4]. Germany’s Agit Kabayel is the mandatory WBC challenger and may have to face Usyk before any rematch with Verhoeven [1, 2, 3, 4].
The next step is for the WBC to review the appeal lodged by Verhoeven’s team and make a ruling. The organization must also manage the mandatory challenger situation before any rematch can be scheduled.
