‘I just didn’t want you to be bored’: Oleksandr Usyk reacts to Rico Verhoeven fight and performance
Oleksandr Usyk retained his heavyweight titles after a controversial TKO victory over Rico Verhoeven in Egypt. Usyk commented on social media that he did not want the fight to be boring, despite it being perceived as tense. The stoppage has led to discussions of a potential rematch, with Verhoeven considering an appeal.
- ▪Oleksandr Usyk defeated Rico Verhoeven by TKO in the 11th round of their WBC heavyweight title fight.
- ▪The fight took place at the Pyramids of Giza on May 23, 2026.
- ▪Usyk's victory was controversial, leading to discussions of a rematch and an appeal from Verhoeven.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/just-didn-t-want-bored-214946722.html","headline":"‘I just didn’t want you to be bored’: Oleksandr Usyk reacts to Rico Verhoeven fight and performance","datePublished":"2026-05-24T21:49:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-24T21:49:46.000Z","keywords":["Rico Verhoeven","Oleksandr Usyk","Heavyweight boxing"],"description":"Oleksandr Usyk says his fight with Rico Verhoeven was not as “tense” as it may have seemed","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo Sports","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/cv/apiv2/default/icons/favicon_y112_112.png","width":112,"height":112},"url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Scott…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Yahoo Sports.