05/23/2026
I know I'm super late with it today but.......IT'S FIGHT DAY!!!!
Right now live on DAZN PPV it's an historic day of action from the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt as Ring Magazine and unified heavyweight champion Oleksander Usyk defends his title vs legendary kickboxing superstar Rico Verhoeven, who's only competing in his second boxing match and his first since 2014, which he won via KO.
I'm not real big on this fight as I'm not a fan of champions giving title shots to combat sports athletes who aren't ranked in boxing. Yet it is what it is and while Verhoeven isn't the first kickboxer who's crossed over, at least with those who've come before him, fighters such as Jarrell Miller, Troy Dorsey, and Vitali Klitschko worked their way up towards title contention.
Of the three sanctioning bodies that recognize Usyk as champion (WBC, WBA, and IBF), only the WBC has chosen to recognize this fight as a title bout and arlier this week, both the WBA and IBF stated that if Verhoeven should pull off the upset vs Usyk, their titles will become vacant.
As for my prediction, I respect Verhoeven as a great kickboxer, but I don't think he's got the goods to beat Usyk but at this point who truly does?? I'm thinking Usyk via 5th round KO.