Oleksandr Usyk survived a massive scare before stopping Rico Verhoeven in the 11th round to retain his WBC heavyweight title in Egypt.
The fight, held in front of the Pyramids of Giza, turned into a much tougher night than many expected for the unbeaten champion.
Verhoeven, competing in only his second professional boxing match, repeatedly pressured Usyk and appeared to trouble him throughout the middle rounds.
But late in Round 11, Usyk finally found the breakthrough with a huge right uppercut that dropped Rico before the referee stopped the fight with just one second left in the round.
Despite the defeat, Verhoeven earned respect across the combat sports world for pushing one of boxing’s best fighters to the limit.
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