{"id":199371,"date":"2026-05-23T23:44:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T23:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/23\/usyk-keeps-titles-with-controversial-verhoeven-stoppage\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T23:44:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T23:44:51","slug":"usyk-keeps-titles-with-controversial-verhoeven-stoppage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/23\/usyk-keeps-titles-with-controversial-verhoeven-stoppage\/","title":{"rendered":"Usyk keeps titles with controversial Verhoeven stoppage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A fortunate Oleksandr Usyk retained his world heavyweight titles in Egypt with a highly controversial 11th-round stoppage win against boxing novice Rico Verhoeven.<\/b><\/p>\n

Verhoeven, in just his second professional boxing fight, was the clear aggressor for long spells, stunning generational great Usyk in a way nobody expected.<\/p>\n

Possibly behind on the judges’ cards, Ukrainian Usyk produced a late surge and landed a sharp left uppercut that sent the Dutchman to the canvas.<\/p>\n

Verhoeven beat the count, but a follow-up flurry in the closing seconds of the round prompted the referee to step in and wave it off – a decision that looked extremely harsh on the challenger.<\/p>\n

“This fight was hard. It was a good fight,” Usyk said.<\/p>\n

In a contest many expected to expose the gulf between elite boxing pedigree and crossover ambition, unbeaten Usyk looked uncharacteristically laboured.<\/p>\n

He struggled to find his usual rhythm in what became the toughest fight of his career.<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old – a three-time undisputed champion who ruled at cruiserweight and heavyweight – found a way to win his 25th professional fight, but his opponent questioned the outcome.<\/p>\n

Kickboxing legend Verhoeven, 37, described it as an “early stoppage” and called for a rematch but said it was up to Usyk.<\/p>\n

“I wanted the referee to let me go out on my shield or let me go in the 12th. I felt we were pretty even on the scorecards,” Verhoeven said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

More to follow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fortunate Oleksandr Usyk retained his world heavyweight titles in Egypt with a highly controversial 11th-round stoppage win against boxing novice Rico Verhoeven. Verhoeven, in just his second professional boxing fight, was the clear aggressor for long spells, stunning generational great Usyk in a way nobody expected. Possibly behind on the judges’ cards, Ukrainian Usyk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUsyk keeps titles with controversial Verhoeven stoppage - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/23\/usyk-keeps-titles-with-controversial-verhoeven-stoppage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Usyk keeps titles with controversial Verhoeven stoppage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A fortunate Oleksandr Usyk retained his world heavyweight titles in Egypt with a highly controversial 11th-round stoppage win against boxing novice Rico Verhoeven. 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