Oleksandr Usyk’s next fight has been confirmed, with the heavyweight boxing champion defending one of his world titles at the pyramids of Giza, in a stunning development.
Usyk had teased major news throughout the week, which had already been littered with several shocking boxing stories, and Friday brought confirmation of his next outing.
Remarkably, it will take place at the pyramids of Giza in Egypt, as he defends the WBC title against kickboxing great Rico Verhoeven on 23 May.
Usyk, 39, had been linked to the Dutchman in recent weeks, but the location of the fight comes as a major surprise.
Usyk was recently granted a voluntary title defence for his next bout and was previously linked to Deontay Wilder, but the American was later paired with Derek Chisora. Instead, it will be Verhoeven, 36, who vies for Usyk’s WBC belt while aiming to hand the Ukrainian his first professional loss.
Verhoeven’s kickboxing record stands at 66-10 (21 knockouts), and he is a former long-reigning heavyweight champion, but this fight is just his second in pro boxing – and comes 12 years after he won his first.
Meanwhile, Usyk is 24-0 (15 KOs), a former undisputed cruiserweight champion and a two-time undisputed heavyweight king, who currently holds the WBC, WBA and IBF belts in the latter division.
Verhoeven was linked to Anthony Joshua in December, around the time of the Briton’s stoppage of Jake Paul, but “AJ” was involved in a car crash 10 days after beating the influencer.
Two of Joshua’s teammates were killed in the crash in Nigeria, in which Joshua was a passenger. The former two-time heavyweight champion’s next move is unclear, though his promoter Eddie Hearn has hinted at a summer comeback.
More follows…
