- Usyk vs Verhoeven is locked for May 23 in front of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt
- Verhoeven is a 7-time GLORY heavyweight kickboxing champion making his pro boxing debut at 36
- Usyk's camp opens a base in Cairo from May 12 — the build week proper begins next Monday
Right Then — Three Weeks Out, And It's Still Not Real
Right then. May 23. The Pyramids of Giza. Oleksandr Usyk defending the WBC heavyweight title against Rico Verhoeven. A seven-time GLORY kickboxing champion making his pro boxing debut against the best heavyweight on the planet, in front of three of the seven wonders of the world.
I still don't think people have wrapped their heads around how mad this is. Three weeks out, and the whole thing still feels like a fever dream Turki Alalshikh had on a Tuesday morning.
The Build So Far
Usyk's camp has been working out of his usual base in Spain. Sergey Lapin's running the conditioning, Anatoliy Lomachenko Sr is in for the mitt work, and the sparring's been local. The plan is to fly the camp into Cairo on May 12. From the 13th onwards it's open workouts at the venue, media days at the Mena House Hotel, and a public weigh-in on the steps in front of the pyramids on the Friday.
Verhoeven flew into Egypt last week. He's already done media at the venue and posted training footage from a converted gym in Cairo's Heliopolis district. He looks proper heavyweight — about 230 pounds with no obvious give, hands moving fast, footwork sharper than you'd expect from a 36-year-old kickboxer. Don't sleep on the conditioning. Sixteen years at GLORY level, you don't fake that.
The Danger No-One's Talking About
Make no mistake. Usyk is going to win this fight. He's Oleksandr Usyk. He's the best heavyweight of his generation, undefeated, two-time undisputed if you count cruiserweight, and he beats Tyson Fury twice. Verhoeven has zero professional boxing fights. The skill gap is a chasm.
But here's the thing the lists aren't saying. Verhoeven has knockout power. He's going to throw kickboxing combinations he's not allowed to finish — and the second one of those connects clean with a heavyweight chin, anything is possible. Usyk's chin is fine. He's been there. But he hasn't been hit by a man with a record of 60-plus stoppages who's spent his life trying to take heads off.
One round of complacency, one slip on the round mat, one shot that lands while Usyk is admiring his own work — and we've got a story. Probably won't happen. But the chance is non-zero, and at the Pyramids, with 30,000 in the seats and a worldwide PPV audience, the spectacle is the spectacle.
The Card
The undercard is sneaky strong. Hamzah Sheeraz against Alem Begic for an interim 168 title. Jack Catterall in a stay-busy. Moses Itauma on a separate slot before the O2 in July. The whole night is structured for the spectacle, but the boxing is real.
The Prediction
Usyk by stoppage in seven. He'll feel out the kickboxer for three rounds, find that his hands are quicker, start landing the left hand at the end of round four, drop him in five, and finish him in the seventh. Verhoeven will land at least one big right hand and Usyk will eat it and smile. That's how it goes.
But the night belongs to the venue. Whatever the result, the Pyramids of Giza hosting a heavyweight world title fight is the most boxing-mad thing this calendar year was ever going to throw up. Three weeks today. If you know, you know.