Usyk takes on kickboxing star Verhoeven in title defense in Egypt

The heavyweight title defense in Giza will be sold as a clash of worlds, not just a boxing match. Oleksandr Usyk is set to face Rico Verhoeven on Saturday, May 23, 2026, at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, with the crossover appeal as much a part of the pitch as the belts at stake.

Eddie Hearn called Verhoeven a man with “a mountain to climb” against Usyk, but also described the Dutch kickboxing champion as “not a normal man.” That tension captures the business behind the event: promoters are leaning on Verhoeven’s physical mystique and crossover fame while asking fans to accept it as a serious world-title defense. The World Boxing Council has already confirmed the bout as Usyk’s voluntary heavyweight title defense, while the status of the IBF and WBA belts remained uncertain, with those sanctioning bodies still to decide whether their titles will stay aligned with the fight.

Usyk’s camp has pushed back against any suggestion that the matchup is a novelty act. Sergey Lapin called Verhoeven “a strong, physical, and experienced fighter” and warned that he is “not an easy opponent at all.” Lapin also said Usyk believes he can manage Verhoeven’s style because he has watched him fight before and has some kickboxing background of his own. That may matter in a bout that asks a two-weight, three-time undisputed world champion to absorb pressure from a man built more through kickboxing than elite boxing.

The mismatch argument is unavoidable. Verhoeven has only one professional boxing win, a second-round knockout of Janos Finfera in 2014, and BoxRec lists his record at 1-0 with the Usyk fight as his next bout. He has vowed to show how much he has learned since turning toward boxing, but the scale of the assignment is stark. Usyk is unbeaten, and his May 2024 victory over Tyson Fury made him the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era before he stopped Daniel Dubois in July 2025 to become two-time undisputed heavyweight champion.

Not everyone in boxing sees suspense here. Liam Harrison said nobody can beat Usyk in a boxing fight, while Fabio Wardley dismissed the bout as “not a genuine challenge” and pointed to Tyson Fury’s crossover fight with Francis Ngannou as a precedent. That skepticism is part of the story too: a spectacle can fill a venue and sell an image, but it also exposes how often combat sports now package novelty, name value and borrowed legitimacy as if they were equal to competitive risk.