Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven WBC title fight booked for May 23 at Pyramids of Giza in Egypt

Wild outVerhoeven in.

Oleksandr Usyk will defend his WBC heavyweight title towards former GLORY kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Their “Glory in Giza” boxing showdown will stream solely on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV).

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Today’s reserving reaffirmed what we already knew about the Paramount+ era: you possibly can’t entice marquee names (like these Netflix headliners) with out PPV factors on the backend, which might be why Verhoeven balked at the offer to fight Derrick Lewis at UFC 324 earlier this yr in Las Vegas.

“I spent twelve years as the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing champion and accomplished everything I set out to accomplish,” Verhoeven, 36, stated in at present’s launch. “But staying at the top for that long didn’t take away from the hunger, it strengthened it. Usyk is the undisputed in boxing. That’s the kind of challenge that motivated me. Undisputed versus undisputed.”

Fans blasted the matchmaking on social media.

“I truly respect people who reach the very top in their sport,” the 39-year-old Usyk added. (*23*)

He’s proper — it is also about the money.