This year’s undisputed fight in the world of boxing took place last night between Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk (39 years old), the absolute heavyweight champion, and Dutchman Rico Verhoeven (37 years old), coming from kickboxing, where he has won numerous accolades.
Usyk defeated Rico Verhoeven after a disputed decision, a knockout with one second left in the 11th round of the super fight.
The match took place in Egypt, with the Giza Pyramids in the background. The Ukrainian remains undefeated in professional boxing, and in this fight, he only put one of his belts on the line, the WBC title.
Considering his career limited strictly to K1, Verhoeven performed more than honorably in these 11 rounds. Furthermore, in the 7th round, the Dutchman clearly dominated and was very close to shocking the boxing world.
A pivotal moment followed when, in the 11th round, with 19 seconds left on the clock, Usyk knocked Verhoeven down. The Dutchman signaled that he could continue the fight, but he kept receiving hard hits, and with just one second before the end, the referee definitively stopped the match, a decision that could be said to be on the edge of the rules, fiercely contested by Verhoeven's team.
Usyk has 25 wins in as many professional fights, and it remains to be seen who his next opponent will be, most likely German Agit Kabayel.