Quick Answer
Oleksandr Usyk beat Rico Verhoeven by unanimous decision over 12 rounds at Glory in Giza, the cross discipline event staged in front of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The fight ran under standard professional boxing rules.
Verhoeven, the long reigning GLORY heavyweight kickboxing champion, used his size, reach and pressure to take the early rounds. Usyk's footwork, southpaw angles and superior conditioning broke the fight open from the middle rounds onwards.
The event aired on DAZN PPV in the UK and most of Europe, on Sky Sports Box Office for traditional UK linear PPV, and on Netflix in selected international territories.
Why This Fight Happened
After clearing the traditional heavyweight ranks with wins over Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Usyk was running out of legacy fights inside conventional boxing. The match against Verhoeven was the result: a structured crossover bout between the pound for pound boxing king and the heaviest hitter in modern kickboxing, fought under Queensberry rules so the verdict could be measured directly in boxing terms.
Verhoeven brought obvious physical advantages. He stood roughly 6 foot 5 to Usyk's 6 foot 3, carried a heavier natural frame, and had been champion of GLORY's heavyweight division for more than a decade. The risk for him was straightforward: take away the kicks, the knees and the clinch work, and you are left with the part of his arsenal that Usyk handles best.
The Main Event: Round by Round
The fight broke into three clean phases.
Rounds 1 to 4: Verhoeven Sets the Pace
Verhoeven used his size to push Usyk to the ropes and dig to the body. His jab landed early and his right hand to the midsection scored visibly. Usyk worked behind a high guard and tested the timing, conceding the rounds but absorbing what he needed to absorb without taking clean shots upstairs.
Rounds 5 to 8: Usyk Finds the Angles
By the middle of the fight, the southpaw footwork started to dominate. Usyk pivoted off the back foot, stepped left around the lead, and began landing the straight left to Verhoeven's right eye. The Dutch fighter's punch volume dropped as he started having to reset his stance after each Usyk movement. The scorecards almost certainly flipped in this stretch.
Rounds 9 to 12: Conditioning Closes It Out
The late rounds were where the gap in pure boxing experience showed. Usyk's combinations multiplied to three and four punch sequences, the body work returned in kind, and Verhoeven's defensive structure broke down. There was no knockdown, but the rounds were not close on any reasonable card. The unanimous decision read in Usyk's favor across all three judges.
Full Fight Card
The undercard was built to support the spectacle without overshadowing it, with two genuine top tier fights as the chief support.
- Main event. Oleksandr Usyk defeated Rico Verhoeven by unanimous decision (12 rounds).
- Chief support, middleweight. Hamzah Sheeraz won by technical knockout in round 7 over a top 10 ranked challenger.
- Co feature, heavyweight. Agit Kabayel won by knockout in round 5 in a continuation of his recent run of body shot finishes.
- Undercard. Regional title bouts featured rising prospects from Egypt, the UK and Ukraine, with the local fighters drawing the loudest crowd response of the night.
The Production: Why Giza Worked
Combat sports cards staged at landmark locations can easily become novelty. Glory in Giza largely avoided that trap because the production design pulled the desert and the pyramids into the fight itself rather than treating them as a backdrop.
The ring walks were the standout moment. Usyk entered on a long, lit causeway with the Great Pyramid framed directly behind him. Verhoeven walked in to a Dutch and Egyptian percussion arrangement performed live. The crowd was a mix of Saudi backed VIP seating, UK and European travelling support, and a local Egyptian crowd that responded loudly to the undercard fighters from Cairo.
Where to Watch the Replay
Distribution split by region, so the right platform depends on where you are watching from.
UK and Europe
- DAZN PPV. Held primary live and on demand rights across the UK and most of continental Europe. The replay is available on demand to anyone who purchased the PPV.
- Sky Sports Box Office. Traditional UK linear PPV access for TV viewers. The replay is available on Sky Go for the duration of the rental window.
International
- Netflix. Selected international territories carried a delayed stream as part of Netflix's expanding live sports portfolio. Availability varies by country.
- DAZN Boxing YouTube. Free official highlights, the full post fight press conference and the ring walks are posted on the DAZN Boxing channel within 24 hours.
What the Result Means
For Usyk, the win adds another legacy line without endangering his undisputed boxing reign. The fight was structured carefully: standard boxing rules, professional judges, a full 12 round distance. A loss would have been damaging, but the format strongly favored the more experienced pure boxer.
For Verhoeven, the result is less damaging than it looks on paper. He went 12 rounds with the best heavyweight boxer of the modern era under rules that took away most of his arsenal. He landed cleanly, made the early rounds competitive, and walked out under his own power. His GLORY title is unaffected and his return to kickboxing is already being lined up.
For the broader sport, Glory in Giza confirms two things. Cross discipline fights are commercially viable when the matchmaking is honest about the rules. And Saudi backed combat sports money is now happily funding events outside the Kingdom itself, with Egypt the obvious next regional partner.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Verhoeven hurt Usyk at any point?
The body work in the first four rounds had visible effect. Usyk took a knee briefly between rounds three and four to reset, but he was not officially down and did not appear hurt to the head at any stage.
Was this a title fight?
No. Usyk's undisputed heavyweight boxing titles were not on the line. The fight was contracted as a non title professional bout to keep the regulatory path clean for both fighters.
Will there be a rematch?
Neither camp has called for one. A more likely sequel is a reverse rules fight under kickboxing or modified MMA, which has been informally discussed but not contracted.
What weight did they fight at?
The bout was contracted at heavyweight with a contracted weight cap above Usyk's usual fighting weight. Both fighters made weight comfortably at the official ceremony.
Who refereed the fight?
An IBF appointed referee with experience working in major Saudi backed events, with three independent judges drawn from the UK, the US and Italy.
The Bottom Line
Usyk wins again, in a fight that tested his hands against a genuinely dangerous opponent from a different discipline and confirmed that his ring IQ and movement still translate across formats. Verhoeven leaves with reputation intact. Saudi and Egyptian backed combat sports money leaves with another headline event in the bank. If you missed the live broadcast, DAZN PPV is the cleanest route to the full replay.
