Ukrainian super heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk defended the unified world champion title, winning a difficult victory over Dutch rival Rico Verhoeven. The epic confrontation in the ring ended with a technical knockout in the eleventh round.
The Dutchman started the fight more actively, trying to put pressure from the first minutes, while Oleksandr Usyk traditionally worked as the second number, kept his opponent at a distance and studied his style. The first hard exchange of blows took place in the third round, when Verhoeven made a rather sharp and dangerous lunge.
By the middle of the fourth three-minute period, the Ukrainian boxer had already seized the initiative. Usyk delivered a series of accurate punches and signature uppercuts, although he missed a heavy right hand in response.
Verhoeven's activity did not decrease even in the second half of the fight. For the Dutchman, this was his first experience at such a deep distance in boxing, but he continued to attack sharply in the eighth round, and in the ninth he even managed to press the Ukrainian to the ropes. At the end of the tenth round, the ring exploded from a counter-attack, when Usyk went on an active attack, and Verhoeven instantly responded with his own powerful blow.
The fate of the fight was decided in the eleventh round. Oleksandr Usyk caught his opponent with a filigree straight punch, sending Verhoeven to the first knockdown of this fight. The Dutchman was able to get up, but the Ukrainian instantly carried out a long and powerful series of blows, which forced the referee to stop the fight and record an early victory for our champion.
At stake in this fight were the WBC and prestigious The Ring magazine belts, which the Ukrainian successfully defended in the ring. Oleksandr Usyk also retained the WBA and IBF world champion titles.
This triumph was the twenty-fifth victory in the professional career of the undefeated Ukrainian, and he completed fifteen fights early. In addition, Oleksandr Usyk successfully defended his championship titles for the sixth time in a row after moving to the royal division.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Oleksandr Usyk will have three more fights before the end of his career.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.