Oleksandr Usyk<\/a> will defend his WBC heavyweight championship of the world <\/a>in May, in Egypt against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven who will be having just his second professional boxing fight. The first was in 2014.<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, Usyk had been linked with a defence <\/a>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. <\/p>\n 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 <\/a>for a few months. There had been some bold talk, and then Verhoeven emerged as the number one on his list. <\/p>\n Verhoeven has ruled the kickboxing circuit for over 12 years as their undisputed heavyweight champion. The big Dutchman is trained by Peter Fury<\/a>, who is Tyson Fury\u2019s estranged uncle and former coach. <\/p>\n Big Rico can fight, make no mistake, and Fury knows how to train elite heavyweights.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Rico Verhoeven is regarded as one of kickboxing\u2019s all-time greats (Getty)<\/p>\n It was first announced as a full WBC<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will create an unbelievable belt featuring the pyramids,\u201d promised the WBC\u2019s 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\u2019s main concerns. <\/p>\n 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<\/a> is far more cynical and calculating.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Usyk\u2019s \u2018Glory at Giza\u2019 fight is just the latest piece of boxing craziness (PA Wire)<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n Enjoy 185+ fights a year on DAZN, the Global Home of Boxing<\/p>\n Never miss a fight from top promoters. Watch on your devices anywhere, anytime.<\/p>\n Buy Now<\/a><\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.<\/p>\n Enjoy 185+ fights a year on DAZN, the Global Home of Boxing<\/p>\n Never miss a fight from top promoters. Watch on your devices anywhere, anytime.<\/p>\n Buy Now<\/a><\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.<\/p>\n In 2023 Fury, the WBC champion at the time, took on and narrowly beat<\/a> the UFC\u2019s 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 \u201cGlory at Giza\u201d, a reality. <\/p>\n It feels like full WBC belt is on the line because the Saudis and their new partner, Zuffa Boxing<\/a>, do not want any of the established sanctioning bodies involved in fights they are promoting. It is a bold stance by the WBC \u2013 Usyk is their prize. Zuffa, which is run by the UFC\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Oleksandr Usyk will fight for a newlycommissioned WBC belt that will feature the pyramids (PA)<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n 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. <\/a>However, Radmacher did drop Patterson briefly in the second round. <\/p>\n Trust me, freak fights are not a modern invention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-509606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Rico](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Rico-Verhoeven.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Usyk\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ff391201b8f2a5be67cbba2ff33e98d7Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzU4ODEwMTQz-2.81042992.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"DAZN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/DAZN.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"Oleksandr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5312f7f3dac62fca7f2efb494d12ebc7Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzU1NzA3NjEw-2.81042905.jpg\")
<\/p>\n