Usyk Edges Verhoeven in Controversial 11th-Round Stoppage
Oleksandr Usyk avoided a major upset, defeating kickboxer Rico Verhoeven by a controversial 11th-round stoppage in Giza, Egypt, during Saturday's WBC heavyweight title bout.
Andreas Hale May 23, 2026, 07:28 PM ET Close Andreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas' free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM's Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z's Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film "Bridges" in 2024. Follow on X
_Originally reported by [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/48856437/usyk-avoids-upset-verhoeven-11th-round-stoppage)._
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