All the fights of the boxing evening have been announced, the main event of which will be the fight of Ukrainian world heavyweight champion WBA, WBC and IBF Oleksandr Usyk against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven. The boxing show will take place on May 23 near the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The full list of fights was published on the official Ring Magazine page on Instagram.
In the main fight of the undercard, undefeated British boxer Hamza Shiraz will face German Alem Begich. The athletes will compete for the vacant WBO welterweight title.
Another title fight is scheduled in the welterweight division. Briton Jack Catterall will enter the ring against Uzbekistan’s Shakhram Giyasov, and the WBA Regular belt will be at stake.
The evening’s program also includes a fight for the status of the official contender for the IBF heavyweight title. In it, Cuban Frank Sanchez will meet American Richard Torrez Jr.
In addition to Usyk, another representative of Ukraine will perform this evening. Undefeated Daniel Lapin, who holds the IBF International and WBA Continental light heavyweight titles, will fight against Frenchman Benjamin Mendes Tani.
All fights of the boxing evening Usyk – Verhoeven:
Olexander Usyk Ukraine – Rico Verhoeven Netherlands
Gamza Shiraz Great Britain – Alem Begich Germany
Jack Catterall Great Britain – Shahram Giyasov Uzbekistan
Frank Sanchez Cuba – Richard Torres Jr. USA
Mizuki Hiruta Japan — Mai Soliman Australia
Daniel Lapin Ukraine — Benjamin Mendez Thani France
Bassem Mamdouh Egypt — Jamar Telly USA
Sultan Almohammed Saudi Arabia — Didi Impraks Indonesia
Mahmoud Mubarak Egypt — Ali Serunkuga Uganda
Omar Hikal Egypt — Michael Kalvaglia Kenya
In the main event of the evening, Usyk will make a voluntary defense of his WBC heavyweight title. The Ukrainian will also defend his WBA and IBF belts.
In case of defeat, Usyk will lose these titles, but they will not go to Verhoeven, since the Dutchman is currently not included in the ratings of these organizations. The winner of the Usyk-Verhoeven fight will also receive a special WBC belt called “King of the Nile”.
