Usyk vs. Verhoeven: May Date
Oleksandr Usyk is slated to face kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven in Egypt this May — a cross‑discipline heavyweight spectacle promoters are billing as huge. (espn.in) Usyk’s team even frames the bout as a career‑defining event amid ongoing talk of a potential Usyk–Fury trilogy later on. (espn.in)
Promoters have scheduled the fight for May 23, 2026, at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, an event being marketed under the “Glory in Giza” banner and set to stream exclusively on DAZN. (espn.com) The World Boxing Council officially sanctioned the matchup as a WBC heavyweight title defense after its Board of Governors approved the bout following initial confusion about its status. (boxingnews24.com) Oleksandr Usyk enters the card unbeaten at 24-0 with 15 knockouts and was last in the ring when he stopped Daniel Dubois; Usyk has publicly outlined a sequence of next opponents that lists Verhoeven first, then the Wardley–Dubois winner, and a potential Tyson Fury meeting. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) Rico Verhoeven is the longtime GLORY kickboxing heavyweight king and has just one professional boxing appearance on record — a 2014 one-punch knockout — leaving him with a 1-0 boxing ledger as he prepares for the crossover. (boxingscene.com) The bout announcement came via His Excellency Turki Alalshikh alongside Ring Magazine promotions, with organizers confirming DAZN holds global streaming rights for the Pyramids event. (fightsatw.com) Questions remain over the other sanctioning bodies: approaches have reportedly been made to the IBF and WBA about Usyk’s championship status, and those organizations have not publicly confirmed unified recognition of the May 23 matchup. (boxingscene.com)
