Alexander Usyk and Rico Verhoeven will meet on May 23 at the pyramids in Giza, Egypt, with the heavyweight bout headlining the Glory in Giza fight night backed by Turki Al-Sheikh. Usyk, 24-0 with 15 knockouts, is expected to defend his belts against Verhoeven, who is listed at 1-0 with one knockout.
The pair faced off at a joint news conference on the eve of the fight, and the numbers around the matchup tell their own story. Bookmakers have Usyk at 1.05 to win, a reflection of how heavily he is favored heading into the main event.
The fight matters today because it puts Usyk’s Supremacy back in the spotlight in front of one of boxing’s most striking backdrops, while giving Verhoeven a rare and difficult shot in the ring. For Verhoeven, it will be only his second professional boxing bout and his first since 2014, a long gap that makes this a different challenge from the one Usyk has faced in the division since moving up in 2019.
That gap is part of what gives the bout its edge. Verhoeven is coming in as a kickboxer rather than as a boxer with a steady recent record in the sport, while Usyk’s camp has taken a scientific approach to preparation, according to his strength and conditioning coach, Yakub Chitskii. The Ring has said Usyk has dominated the heavyweight division since arriving there in 2019, and this fight is set up to test that run against an opponent with far less boxing mileage but plenty of combat experience.
For viewers in Ukraine, the fight will be shown online on Kyivstar TV. Under the lights in Giza, Usyk will be trying to turn a high-profile spectacle into another routine defense, while Verhoeven is chasing the kind of breakthrough that comes only when a fighter with almost no recent boxing history lands the upset of the night.
