Oleksandr Usyk retained his heavyweight titles Sunday after a controversial technical knockout victory over Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza [1, 2].

The result preserves Usyk's unbeaten record as the heavyweight champion, though the nature of the stoppage has sparked widespread debate regarding the referee's decision to end the fight.

The bout ended in the 11th round, the penultimate round of the scheduled 12-round fight [3]. The referee stopped the contest with only one second remaining in the round [3], citing safety concerns for the fighters [1, 4].

Usyk entered the ring facing a significant size disadvantage. He weighed in at 16 st 9 lb, approximately 233 lb [4]. This meant the Ukrainian champion was 25 lb lighter than Verhoeven [4].

Despite the weight gap, Usyk successfully defended his standing in the division. Reports indicate he retained six heavyweight titles, including the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBO, IBF, and The Ring belts [5]. Other reports focused specifically on his retention of the WBC title [1].

The timing of the stoppage prevented a possible upset by the Dutch former kickboxer. Because the fight ended just before the start of the final round, the decision has been labeled as controversial by several sports outlets [2, 4].

“Usyk retained his heavyweight titles after a controversial TKO stoppage”

The controversy surrounding the timing of the stoppage suggests that Verhoeven may have been close to a historic upset. By ending the fight with one second left in the 11th round, the referee's intervention effectively removed the possibility of a 12th-round knockout or a shift in the judges' scorecards, ensuring Usyk's continued dominance of the heavyweight division.