(Leigh Dawney / Queensberry)
Death, taxes and sanctioning bodies changing their minds as they see fit.
Less than 24 hours after declaring Oleksandr Usyk-Rico Verhoeven as a ‘WBC Special Event’, the sanctioning body’s Board of Governors have agreed to have its heavyweight title at stake for the May 23 novelty fight. Sunday’s ruling was born of a previous agreement between Usyk, 24-0 (15 KOs), and the WBC during last year’s annual convention, where the unbeaten Ukrainian southpaw was granted a voluntary defense.
“After careful consideration, the WBC Board of Governors has ruled in favor of sanctioning WBC World Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk’s voluntary title defense against legendary kickboxing Champion Rico Verhoeven,” the sanctioning body revealed in a public ruling on Sunday. “At its 63rd Annual Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, the WBC granted Champion Usyk a voluntary defense.
“Subsequently, the WBC received a petition to sanction the Usyk v. Herhoeven fight as a voluntary defense.”
That last part comes shortly after WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman stated that his office had yet to field a request for the crossover bout to serve as a sanctioned title fight. In fairness, Sulaiman – in his longtime role as president – works alongside the Board of Governors and doesn’t actually hold a board member seat.
Still, Sunday’s ruling leaves both the sanctioning body and Usyk subject to sharp criticism over Verhoeven receiving a title shot. The legendary kickboxer from the Netherlands has just one pro boxing match to his name, and it came more than a decade ago.
It also spits in the face of more deserving challengers patiently (and several, impatiently) waiting in line for their crack at the most storied prize in boxing’s rich history.
Usyk is the recognized lineal, RING, WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion. To date, neither the WBA nor IBF titles are at stake. Whether or not Ring Magazine – whose promotional team will present the event from Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza – will recognize its championship at stake is a decision for the publication to confirm.
Agit Kabayel is the WBC interim titlist and confirmed as the next mandatory challenger and has done his best to bide his time while awaiting the call for a title consolidation clash. He turned away Damian Knyba in a 3rd round knockout atop a long overdue homecoming show on January 10 in Oberhausen, Germany.
Regarding the news…
2026-03-01 23:00:00
