Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven Fight Results: Usyk Escapes Disaster With An 11th Round TKO

In the opening round, Verhoeven surprised the DAZN commentary with his good movement and landed two hard body shots on Usyk. He was throwing out his left jab to gauge the distance, and all Usyk did was move around and see what his opponent had. Verhoeven continued to pressure in the second round, keeping Usyk on the back foot. Usyk did land clean left and right uppercuts, which temporarily halted Verhoeven’s forward momentum. Usyk wasn’t as active with his offense throughout the round.

The third round was interesting as Verhoeven was throwing and landing massive overhand rights that froze Usyk for a split second. Usyk came right back with left and right hooks between shots, but Verhoeven’s punches appeared to have more effect up to this point in the fight.

Usyk finally got into the fight in the fourth round, landing a left uppercut that hurt Verhoeven. Usyk then went after him, but after Verhoeven regained his senses, he landed a huge overhand right that sent Usyk back to the ropes. The fifth round was tightly contested, as Usyk found a home for his straight left hands, but Verhoeven landed a few clean right hands. Both fighters had their moments. Verhoeven’s movement began to slow throughout the round.

Verhoeven kept up the pressure on Usyk throughout the sixth round as Usyk continued to struggle against the kickboxing legend. Usyk had moments with his uppercuts, but up to this point, Verhoeven had won the majority of the first half of the fight. In the seventh round, Verhoeven landed a huge overhand right that buckled Usyk for a second and forced him to backtrack. Verhoeven’s offensive pressure remained a problem for Usyk throughout the round.

The eighth was another round where Verhoeven saw a lot of success with his overhand rights. Usyk was able to land a four-punch combination toward the end of the round, but just when he thought he had him, Verhoeven turned Usyk and avoided any additional damage.

The ninth round was more of Verhoeven, but Usyk came roaring back in the tenth round and had Verhoeven hurt but couldn’t finish him before the bell.

In the 11th round, Usyk landed a right uppercut that sent Verhoeven down and almost through the ropes. Verhoeven beat the count, and after the referee put the gumshield in his mouth, Usyk jumped on him. With barely 1 second left, the referee jumped in and bizarrely stopped the fight. It was a terrible stoppage in a fight that Verhoeven was clearly ahead in, according to those watching and in attendance.