Boxing
Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven confirmed for the WBC title fight
Nevertheless, the sanctioning authority approved him as a challenger.
This is not an argument against Verhoeven’s athletic past. His achievements in kickboxing are extensive. For more than a decade, he held some version of the heavyweight championship and defended it against elite opponents, building a long reign in another combat sport. He understands the pressure of a championship and has performed at the highest level available to him over the years.
The question is whether this story translates directly into qualifying for the world heavyweight boxing champion title.
Usyk, now 39, has achieved his position through specific steps in the sport. After moving up from cruiserweight, he defeated established challengers and unified the titles in high-level fights. His most recent winning streak included two wins over Tyson Fury in Riyad, before he stopped Daniel Dubois within five rounds to retain his champion status. Each of these fights was against ranked heavyweights operating within boxing’s competitive order.
Verhoeven steps in without this path. He was absent from professional boxing for over a decade and did not build final rounds against newfangled heavyweights, did not advance through eliminators or move up the ranking ladder in a newfangled championship setting. Despite this, the WBC deemed him suitable to fight for the belt.
The event itself explains part of the calculation. The fight, tagged “Glory in Giza”, will take place in Egypt and will be broadcast worldwide on DAZN under the leadership of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. The scale of staging, historical setting and financial support position it as a destination event built with international reach in mind, rather than a routine defense from a line of challengers.
The heavyweight championship has traditionally been run with ranked challengers, eliminators, and a structured mandatory defense. This system was never inflexible, but existed as a apparent framework. Approving a crossover fighter with a single fight in professional boxing goes beyond this framework and adapts the standard used.
Supporters of the decision will cite Verhoeven’s credentials. He has no shortage of experience in combat sports and is no stranger to performing under the pressure of championships. Physically he fits the division and commercially he attracts a different segment of the audience to the event. From a promotional point of view, the appeal is obvious.
However, sanctions are intended to reflect the competitive position within the sport itself.
Usyk’s position complicates the picture. Having united and defended against established names, he operates with the freedom that often accompanies long-reigning champions. Heavyweight title holders historically select opponents based on the prize and the time they have cleared their main field. An opponent with narrow boxing experience has a different risk profile than a ranked fighter with dozens of professional fights under his belt.
This adjustment does not erase the legality of the belt, but it does indicate how malleable the approval process can become when the scale of events and global reach are at stake.
The heavyweight championship has long functioned as the symbolic center of boxing. Decisions about who competes for it reflect how the sport weighs competitive order against commercial ambitions. In this case, the emphasis clearly favors the scope and spectacular nature of the event.
Verhoeven made his mark in kickboxing. Usyk has earned his place in boxing. On May 23, these careers will converge under the rules of the heavyweight championship, and the event can succeed on its own terms.
Despite this, a fighter who had been absent from professional boxing for twelve years was allowed to fight for the most apparent prize in the sport. This fact alone tells you where the heavyweight title permits are currently at.
“I feel like I was the better player. My reach, distance and speed were kind of better than his,” Stevenson said on The Joe Rogan Experience, recalling the rounds they played during training camp early in his professional career.
Shakur added that Lomachenko’s conditioning and striking were an advantage at the time as the Ukrainian prepared for the fight during camp.
“From the standpoint of being in shape and throwing more punches, I think he was better to some extent,” Shakur said. “He was preparing for his fight and I was preparing for my fight too.”
The sessions took place in 2017, when Lomachenko was preparing to fight Guillermo Rigondeaux. Stevenson, then a juvenile midfielder who had won an Olympic silver medal, was brought into camp as a sparring partner.
Lomachenko entered the professional ranks after one of the most successful amateur careers in boxing history. Unlike Stevenson, who won an Olympic silver medal, Lomachenko won two Olympic gold medals and set a record widely reported as 396 wins and one defeat.
That lone loss came to Russian Albert Selimov in the final of the 2007 World Amateur Featherweight Championship. Lomachenko later avenged this defeat twice in his amateur career, including a victory over Selimov at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Shakur said the experience stuck with him because he felt he was able to hold his own against one of the most respected technicians in the sport at the time.
Looking back, Stevenson stated that he believed Lomachenko may have looked at the situation differently after seeing how Stevenson performed during those rounds.
“If I’m Lomachenko and I know he weighed 126 pounds at the time. He was a kid growing into his 30s,” Stevenson said. “Now I see him grown up, bigger and stronger, and I see what he did as a kid. I would probably test the waters with him. I really wouldn’t want to see that guy.”
The two fighters have never faced each other in the professional ranks, despite competing in nearby divisions for part of their careers.
A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Loma won world titles in multiple divisions and earned a reputation as one of boxing’s most technically gifted fighters. Since then, Shakur has been on his own path, winning titles in three divisions and establishing himself as one of the most defensively gifted fighters in the sport.
While sparring sessions remain part of boxing history, Stevenson suggested that the experience may facilitate explain why a fight between the two never materialized once both fighters had reached championship level.
Shakur Stevenson says Lomachenko avoided him after sparring
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