Usyk pushed to brink in 11th-round TKO of Verhoeven

Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk was pushed to the limit in a TKO win over kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on Saturday at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

Usyk dropped Verhoeven with an uppercut and finished him with punches at the 2:59 mark of the 11th round to retain the WBC title and avoid one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

Verhoeven was still on his feet when referee Mark Lyson called off the fight at the bell, making it one of the most controversial stoppages in recent memory. Verhoeven said in his postfight interview that he believed it was an early stoppage.

Verhoeven, a champion kickboxer with just one professional boxing match under his belt, entered as a 10-1 underdog and vastly exceeded expectations against Usyk, the top heavyweight and arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. Verhoeven was aggressive, controlled the pace of the fight for long stretches, and clipped Usyk with heavy punches throughout the contest.

Going into the 11th round, Verhoeven was ahead 96-94 on one judge's scorecard. The other two judges had it tied 95-95.

In the end, Usyk came from behind to score the TKO finish and remain the unified heavyweight champion.

Afterward, Ring Magazine head Turki Alalshikh said Verhoeven deserves a rematch.

Usyk, a 39-year-old Ukrainian, stepped into the ring for the first time since a fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois last July in which he became the undisputed heavyweight champion for a second time. He vacated the WBO title four months later. Although Usyk still holds the IBF and WBA titles, he put the WBC belt on the line against Verhoeven.

The victory lifted Usyk's professional record to 25-0 with 16 knockouts.

Verhoeven is one of the most accomplished kickboxers in the world. The 37-year-old Dutchman held the GLORY Kickboxing heavyweight championship from 2014 until he vacated the title late last year. He defended the belt a record 13 times.

Verhoeven is now 1-1 as a professional boxer. His lone appearance in the ring before facing Usyk came in 2014, when he scored a second-round knockout victory in Germany.