In a recent boxing world where one man promised a crowd of 150,000 outdoors in San Francisco and Floyd Mayweather will return in Las Vegas in September, a heavyweight world title fight in front of the pyramids at Giza fits right in.
Oleksandr Usyk will defend his WBC heavyweight championship of the world in May, in Egypt against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven who will be having just his second professional boxing fight. The first was in 2014.
A few weeks ago, Usyk had been linked with a defence of his world crowns against Deontay Wilder outdoors in California, which was going to be free to attend and screened on YouTube. That fight and fantasy vanished to be replaced by the Giza extravaganza.
Usyk is now 39, unbeaten in 24 fights, seemingly untouchable, and he last fought at Wembley Stadium in July. He has been looking for a dance partner for a few months. There had been some bold talk, and then Verhoeven emerged as the number one on his list.
Verhoeven has ruled the kickboxing circuit for over 12 years as their undisputed heavyweight champion. The big Dutchman is trained by Peter Fury, who is Tyson Fury’s estranged uncle and former coach.
Big Rico can fight, make no mistake, and Fury knows how to train elite heavyweights.
It was first announced as a full WBC heavyweight title fight; there was the usual burst of mock outrage that a novice was fighting for the title, and then it was downgraded to a spectacular event.
“We will create an unbelievable belt featuring the pyramids,” promised the WBC’s boss, Mauricio Sulaiman, on Saturday. There has been an endless landscape of kitsch belts made to order by the WBC, but their glittering stockpile is certainly not one of boxing’s main concerns.
On Sunday, it was announced that it would actually be for the full title, a voluntary defence for Usyk. It is not an insult; it is just the latest piece of craziness in the business. Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in a rematch that nobody in boxing wants is far more cynical and calculating.
There are, obviously, heavyweights who deserve a fight with Usyk, but the Ukraine idol has been on a relentless journey through the division with six consecutive wins in two title fights each against Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. If any heavyweight in history deserves a break, an easy voluntary, it is Usyk.
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In 2023 Fury, the WBC champion at the time, took on and narrowly beat the UFC’s number one heavyweight, Francis Ngannou, in a fun fight that launched the real Saudi Arabian involvement in boxing. It is Saudi money making the Usyk v Verhoeven fight, which is being dubbed “Glory at Giza”, a reality.
It feels like full WBC belt is on the line because the Saudis and their new partner, Zuffa Boxing, do not want any of the established sanctioning bodies involved in fights they are promoting. It is a bold stance by the WBC – Usyk is their prize. Zuffa, which is run by the UFC’s Dana White, has introduced its own belt, a blend of a Toys R Us special with WWE glitz. They should have hired the WBC’s beltmaker.
In the Ngannou fight, Fury won but was dropped, and it set a standard for future crossover fights. Big Rico is a perfect opponent and will go down letting his fists fly.
Back in 1957 a man called Pete Rademacher fought for the heavyweight championship of the world in his first professional fight. Rademacher had won the Olympic gold in 1956 but was badly beaten and stopped in the sixth by Floyd Patterson, the champion. However, Radmacher did drop Patterson briefly in the second round.
Trust me, freak fights are not a modern invention.
