Usyk vs Rico LIVE!
Oleksandr Usyk just about navigated a major scare against Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt on Saturday night. Unified world heavyweight champion Usyk looked in serious danger of falling victim to what would have been one of the biggest upsets in sporting history against a kickboxing legend whose only previous professional boxing bout came 12 years ago. The pound-for-pound No1 really struggled against the impressive Verhoeven, who most onlookers thought was winning the fight heading into the late stages.
However, Usyk rallied crucially late in round 11 to send Verhoeven down with an uppercut before his subsequent follow-up pressure then told as referee Mark Lyson stepped in with a stoppage that was officially timed with just one second remaining in the round, leaving Verhoeven and his team furious at what they considered a premature intervention in the circumstances.
Hamzah Sheeraz brushed aside Alem Begic to collect the vacant WBO super-middleweight title after Jack Catterall picked up the WBA ‘regular’ welterweight crown by dominating Shakhram Giyasov. Frank Sanchez knocked out Richard Torrez Jr in an IBF heavyweight title eliminator after Mizuki Hiruta’s latest successful defence and a surprise loss for Daniel Lapin. Follow Usyk vs Rico as it happened below!
Usyk vs Rico results
Live updates
Usyk vs Rico prelim results
The early prelims have already finished in Egypt, with a couple of quick stoppages to bring things to a swifter than expected conclusion.
American Jamar Talley just lived up to his ‘No Mercy’ moniker with a dominant second-round stoppage of Egypt’s Basem Mamdouh.
That was after Saudi Arabia’s Sultan Almohammed had delivered a wincing first-round knockout of Indonesian fighter Dedy Imprax.
Egypt’s Mahmoud Mobark fought to a comfortable four-round decision win over Ali Sserunkuma of Uganda.
The night opened with another Egyptian fighter, Omar Hikal, stopping Tanzania’s Michael Kalyalya in the third round of a scheduled four-rounder.
We now await the start of the main card shortly, with Usyk’s training partner and fellow Ukrainian Daniel Lapin kicking us off against France’s Benjamin Mendes Tani, with the WBA, WBO and IBF Inter-Continental light-heavyweight titles on the line.
Pyramids of Giza provide stunning backdrop for Usyk vs Rico
Whatever you think of tonight’s controversial main event, the backdrop for ‘Glory in Giza’ is absolutely and undeniably stunning.
Turki Alalshikh providing another glorious setting after last year’s ‘Fatal Fury’ card in Times Square, New York involving the likes of Ryan Garcia, Rolly Romero, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez.
Which belts are on the line in Usyk vs Rico?
The belt situation is certainly not straightforward for tonight’s main event in Egypt.
Usyk’s second win over Dubois last summer saw him embark upon an incredible third reign as an undisputed world champion, and second at heavyweight, retaining the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBO and The Ring titles while also earning back the IBF strap.
He is no longer undisputed after vacating the WBO title in November following an order to defend it against interim champion Fabio Wardley, who was upgraded to full champion and then lost the belt to Dubois in an epic showdown in Manchester earlier this month.
However, Usyk remains the unified heavyweight champion with the WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO and The Ring titles still in his possession.
The WBC version is the only belt that Verhoeven is eligible to win tonight as they are the only one of boxing’s four major governing bodies to fully sanction this crossover fight.
The WBA and IBF, meanwhile, have both indicated that their titles will become vacant in the event that Usyk suffers an almighty upset.
Usyk keeps all of his belts if he wins of course.
The Ring title is also on the line, while the WBC have also created a special ‘King of the Nile’ belt for tonight’s victor.
Usyk weighs in at career-heaviest for Rico showdown
No doubt at least partially wary of Verhoeven’s size and power, Oleksandr Usyk weighed in at a career-heaviest 233.3lbs in Cairo yesterday.
That is a full six pounds heavier than for his second victory over Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium last July, which was a one-sided beatdown that ended in a fifth-round knockout.
Verhoeven, by contrast, tipped the scales some 25lbs heavier than Usyk at 258.7lbs.
He was at 265lbs for his last kickboxing contest - a unanimous decision victory over Russia’s Artem Vakhitov at Glory 100 in Rotterdam last June.
Usyk vs Rico prediction
All signs point to a comfortable Usyk victory considering that Verhoeven’s last - and only - professional boxing fight came in 2014.
Certainly tough and battle-hardened thanks to his kickboxing background, cross-combat boxing bouts in recent years have all ended in favour of the career boxer.
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury both defeated Francis Ngannou in the last high-profile meetings of a heavyweight and a fighter from another discipline, albeit in very contrasting fashion.
After a run of six fights against some of the hardest hitters in the division - Joshua, Fury, and Dubois - Usyk has earned the right to call the shots when it comes to the final fights of his career. That being said, it is hard to view this contest as anything but one-sided.
Usyk has shown he still has considerable power by stopping Dubois for a second time last July, but the Ukrainian may take a risk-free approach to a lesser opponent.
Expect Usyk to totally control the bout and if the opportunity arises, stop Verhoeven.
Usyk to win by late stoppage.
Usyk vs Rico undercard in full
Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven
Hamzah Sheeraz vs Alem Begic
Jack Catterall vs Shakhram Giyasov
Frank Sanchez vs Richard Torrez Jr
Mizuki Hiruta vs Mai Soliman
Daniel Lapin vs Benjamin Mendes Tani
Basem Mamdouh vs Jamar Talley
Sultan Almohammed vs Dedy Imprax
Mahmoud Mobark vs Ali Sserunkuma
Omar Hikal vs Michael Kalyalya
Where to watch Usyk vs Rico
TV channel and live stream: Usyk vs Rico is being broadcast live around the world tonight on DAZN via their pay-per-view service at a cost of £24.99 ($59.99).
The fight is included in the subscription of DAZN’s Ultimate Tier customers, while it can also be packaged together in a PPV bundle with either Tommy Fury vs Eddie Hall or Xander Zayas vs Jaron 'Boots' Ennis for a combined price of £44.99.
Usyk vs Rico live
Hello and welcome to Standard Sport’s live coverage of Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven.
In front of a stunning backdrop of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, boxing’s pound-for-pound No1 and unified world heavyweight champion will look to avoid falling victim to one of the biggest upsets in sporting history as he defends his WBC title against a kickboxing legend who has only ever boxed professionally once - and not for 12 years.
There is plenty of British interest on tonight’s undercard, with Hamzah Sheeraz hoping to become a world champion for the first time at the second attempt as he battles Alem Begic for the vacant WBO super-middleweight crown.
Jack ‘El Gato’ Catterall also competes for the WBA’s ‘regular’ welterweight belt against Shakhram Giyasov.
Stay tuned for live updates and results throughout the evening, with the action already underway.