GIZA, Egypt (AP) — Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk survived a scare to earn an 11th-round stoppage against Rico Verhoeven, a Dutch kickboxer who pushed the undefeated Ukrainian to his limits on Saturday.
In a chaotic ending, the 39-year-old Usyk dropped the challenger late in the penultimate round, and the referee waved it off after Usyk pounced when Verhoeven beat the count shortly before the bell.
“I thought it was an early stoppage but in the end it's not up to me,” Verhoeven said moments later while still in the ring with the Pyramids of Giza in the background.
Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs) holds the WBC, WBA and IBF belts. For the 37-year-old Verhoeven, it was just his second time fighting as a boxer.
On the undercard, U.S. heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr. was knocked out by Cuba’s Frank Sanchez, who dropped the Californian with a crunching right to the face in the second round.
Torrez, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, tried to beat the count but stumbled back down to the canvas. It’s the first pro loss for the American after 14 victories. Sanchez (26-1, 19 KOs) put himself in line for an IBF title fight.
Britain’s Hamzah Sheeraz (23-0-1, 19 KOs) won the vacant WBO super middleweight title with a second-round knockout of Alem Begic, finishing the German with a body shot.
Mizuki Hiruta of Japan dominated Mai Soliman over 10 rounds to retain her WBO junior bantamweight title via unanimous decision.
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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