{"id":464625,"date":"2026-05-24T10:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/464625\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T10:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:03:12","slug":"oleksandr-usyk-makes-tragic-admission-after-controversial-victory-over-rico-verhoeven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/464625\/","title":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk makes tragic admission after controversial victory over Rico Verhoeven"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oleksandr Usyk beat Rico Verhoeven in controversial fashion during tonight\u2019s \u2018Glory in Giza\u2019 heavyweight title fight, then made a tragic admission following the clash.<\/p>\n

Usyk<\/a>, whose record now stands at 25-0 with 16 knockouts, beat professional kickboxer and boxer Verhoeven via a highly controversial stoppage in Round 11.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian initially dropped Verhoeven in the round with a thundering uppercut, sending his opponent tumbling to the canvas, but failed to keep him down.<\/p>\n

After beating the ten-count, Verhoeven was swarmed by a barrage of Usyk punches, before the referee declared the Ukrainian as victor by intervening.<\/p>\n

Described by fans online as one of the worst stoppages in modern boxing history, Usyk prevailed with just one second of Round 11 remaining.<\/p>\n

Verhoeven, primarily a kickboxer by trade, delivered a crushing performance against the heavyweight champion, with many analysts deeming him ahead on points throughout.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian, who looked to be in unusually lethargic form all evening, entered Round 11 with the impending decision seemingly in Verhoeven\u2019s favour, leading to the controversial stoppage.<\/p>\n

Usyk makes tragic admission after Verhoeven clash<\/p>\n

Speaking to DAZN, Usyk praised both God and Verhoeven, acknowledging the fight\u2019s difficulty and its quality.<\/p>\n

The undefeated heavyweight champion, who will decide whether to next fight either Agit Kabayel or Verhoeven in a rematch, then made a heartbreaking admission.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, in Ukraine, my people and my country – there is bombing. My people are sitting in bomb shelters. My family,\u201d revealed Usyk.<\/p>\n

“My daughter sent me a message: \u2018Papa, I love you, I\u2019m afraid.\u2019 I said, \u2018oh my God,\u2019\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old has been vocal in his support of Ukraine, and recently visited the country\u2019s energy workers ahead of his title bout in Cairo.<\/p>\n

Usyk expressed his admiration for the workers, confessing that he spends months preparing for a fight, while they fight \u201creal darkness\u201d every day.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s energy infrastructure has been repeatedly targeted throughout the Ukraine-Russia war, and the 39-year-old called for support of his nation\u2019s workers.<\/p>\n

Usyk famously dedicated his victory against Anthony Joshua in 2022 to Ukraine, stating: “This is for my country, my people, and my army,” in the aftermath of his heavyweight bout.<\/p>\n

The fighter also lived on the Ukraine frontline following the war’s initial outbreak, describing the horrors he saw to the Daily Mail<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n

“I lived with the troops. I was there for them. Through binoculars from 900 metres I saw my enemies running, tanks exploding, houses broken,” said the 39-year-old.<\/p>\n

“I saw people with no arms or legs. I saw those who could still walk looking like the walking dead. “Everything, everywhere, dead. I went by car around a city. A dead city. Zero energy.<\/p>\n

“We went past a kids’ playground. The toys are lying in that place but no children playing. It was dead,” he continued.<\/p>\n

Fans of Usyk may have questions regarding his decreased performance this evening, and the conversation surrounding his victory will likely remain entrenched in controversy, but his tragic post-fight admission serves as a reminder that there are far more important things than boxing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk beat Rico Verhoeven in controversial fashion during tonight\u2019s \u2018Glory in Giza\u2019 heavyweight title fight, then made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-464625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}