Usyk, who plays south of Simferopol, Ukraine, enters the fight unbeaten in 24 fights with 15 stops. The Ukrainian champion has established himself as one of the best fighters of his era, first ruling at cruiserweight before moving up to heavyweight and defeating Anthony Joshua twice to win multiple world titles.
Verhoeven comes from a very different background. The Dutch fighter, known as “The Prince of Kickboxing,” has compiled a record of 54-10 in professional kickboxing with 16 suspensions. His professional boxing experience is very limited. Verhoeven fought once in 2014, winning by knockout to go 1-0 with one stoppage.
This situation is similar to what happened almost ten years ago when Floyd Mayweather Jr faced UFC star Conor McGregor. On August 26, 2017, Mayweather entered the ring with a perfect record of 49-0 while McGregor made his professional boxing debut after making a name for himself in mixed martial arts.
This fight, which was held in Las Vegas, ended when Mayweather stopped McGregor at 1:25 in the tenth round of the scheduled twelfth. The victory took Mayweather’s record to 50-0, surpassing the 49-0 mark set by heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano in 1955.
Financially, the event was huge. The Mayweather-McGregor fight drew an estimated 4.3 million pay-per-views, making it one of the most successful combat sports events of all time.
Now the question is whether the Usyk-Verhoeven matchup can generate the same attention. Although Verhoeven brings a strong name to the sport of kickboxing, he does not carry the same celebrity that came with McGregor to Mayweather’s event.
However, the situation alone may attract interest. The promoters chose the Pyramids of Giza as the venue, an unusual location intended to give the event global visibility and spectacle.
Meanwhile, Mayweather himself is gearing up for another high-profile appearance. The former five-division champion is scheduled to face Manny Pacquiao again on September 19 in what will be a rematch of their 2015 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In their first meeting on May 2, 2015, Mayweather defeated Pacquiao by decision to retain the WBC and WBO welterweight titles.
That fight generated more than 4.6 million pay-per-view buys, the highest in boxing history.
Whether Usyk’s clash with Verhoeven can come close to those numbers remains uncertain. The crossover concept has worked before, but success often depends on the people involved as much as the sporting competition itself.
For now, the fight raises a simple question: can a boxing champion facing a star from another combat sport capture the same attention that Floyd Mayweather once did?
On May 23 in Egypt, Oleksandr Usyk will try to find out.
