Oleksandr Usyk retained his unified heavyweight titles against Rico Verhoeven towards the end of last month, and now the champion has been ordered to enter negotiations for his next defence.<\/p>\n
Usyk met a tougher-than-expected challenge in Verhoeven, who had just one previous professional boxing bout during an exemplary kickboxing career.<\/p>\n
The Dutchman looked comfortable in the ring against a modern-day great in Usyk, disrupting his rhythm and building a lead on one official scorecard going into the penultimate round. With the threat of losing his belts, the Ukrainian turned up the heat and scored a knockdown. Though Verhoeven made it back to his feet to fight on, referee Mark Lyson controversially stepped in following a barrage of shots from the champion to end the contest.<\/a><\/p>\n Post-fight, WBC mandatory challenger and interim champion stepped into the ring and demanded his shot next.<\/p>\n Speaking to Boxing Scene<\/a> on June 1, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed that the fight was being ordered that day.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. The WBC ruling was one voluntary defence and then the winner against Kabayel. That fight is being ordered today, and it is a mandatory defence for Usyk.\u201d<\/p>\n Though Kabayel has earned his shot with top wins over Frank Sanchez, Arslanbek Makhmudov and Zhilei Zhang, the German remains unconvinced that Usyk will agree to the fight<\/a>, believing instead that he will be either elevated or fight for the vacant belt.<\/p>\n