1. Result
Oleksandr Usyk retained his WBC heavyweight title with an 11th-round TKO over Rico Verhoeven at 2:59 of the round. Usyk moves to 25-0 with 16 KOs. Verhoeven falls to 1-1 as a pro boxer. bcd8f64b
2. How it ended
With about 20 seconds left in round 11, Usyk landed a right uppercut that dropped Verhoeven. Verhoeven beat the 10-count but was wobbly. Usyk swarmed with a 10-12 punch combination, and referee Mark Lyson stopped the fight with one second left in the round. f64b7eaa
The stoppage was heavily criticized as early. Verhoeven protested immediately, saying “I thought it was an early stoppage… let me go out on my shield or let the bell go”. bcd87eaa
3. How the fight went
It was billed as a mismatch, but Verhoeven was competitive for most of the fight. bcd8
Aggression & control : Verhoeven, the Glory kickboxing heavyweight champ, pressed forward, landed clean shots, and led on many unofficial scorecards. bcd8
Scorecards at stoppage: Two judges had it 95-95, one had Verhoeven up 96-94. Bleacher Report and DraftKings also had Verhoeven ahead going into round 11. f64b7eaa5d2d
Usyk’s late surge: Usyk rocked Verhoeven late in round 10 with a left hand, then finished him in round 11. f64b
4. Contexts
- Stakes: Only the WBC belt was on the line. If Usyk lost, his WBA and IBF titles would have been vacated. 3707
Background: Verhoeven had only one prior pro boxing fight, in 2014. He was a -1100 underdog. Usyk was 39 and had not fought since beating Daniel Dubois in July 2025. aeb25d2d
5. Reactions
Usyk called it a hard fight and credited Verhoeven’s preparation. Analyst Darren Barker said “you cannot disagree that was superb… but the end of the round was so close. You’ve got to give the guy who was winning the fight every chance”. f64b7eaa
Verhoeven said he was “super thankful for the opportunity” but felt he wasn’t given a fair shot to make it to round 12.
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