Oleksandr Usyk has been given a strict deadline, urged to either pursue a fight with his mandatory challenger or vacate one of his three world heavyweight titles.<\/p>\n
The 39-year-old came through a tougher-than-expected assignment last Saturday, managing to retain his WBC, IBF and WBA belts with an 11th-round stoppage over Rico Verhoeven<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the performance was below his typically lofty standards, Usyk nonetheless showed his winning mentality by flooring the Dutch kickboxer with a whipping uppercut.<\/p>\n Having given a terrific account of himself, Verhoeven regained his footing and appeared to be weathering the storm, only for referee Mark Lyson to wave him off on the bell.<\/p>\n Both combatants were then joined in the ring by WBC \u2018interim\u2019 champion Agit Kabayel, who rightly demanded a shot at the champion.<\/p>\n The 33-year-old has held his \u2018interim\u2019 belt since February 2025, back when he stopped Zhilei Zhang with a ferocious body attack in round six<\/a>.<\/p>\n He then staged a homecoming show in Germany with help from Queensberry promoter Frank Warren, who has been particularly adamant that Kabayel must fight for the full WBC title in his next outing.<\/p>\n