Under the shadow of the Pyramids of Giza, boxing is preparing to stage one of the most surreal title fights the sport has ever seen.
On May 23, Oleksandr Usyk will defend his WBC heavyweight title against kickboxing superstar Rico Verhoeven in Egypt in an event being billed as “Glory in Giza” — a crossover spectacle that has already drawn comparisons to some of combat sport’s most iconic nights.
And according to Verhoeven himself, this goes beyond a normal championship event.
“No, it’s I think it’s a this event is next level,” Verhoeven said while discussing the occasion alongside trainer Peter Fury with DAZN Boxing. “It’s like back in the day, the Rumble in the Jungle, and now we have the Glory in Giza. It’s a WBC belt. It’s the ring belt at the pyramids.”
The comparison to the historic “Rumble in the Jungle” — the legendary 1974 clash between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire — underlines just how enormous the setting feels to those involved.
For Verhoeven, who has spent more than a decade dominating heavyweight kickboxing, the scale of the event appears to have genuinely struck a chord.
“It’s for you and for the opponent’s team or for us. It’s for everybody. Amazing. I think it’s history. What will be written, and it is amazing,” he said. “It’s an amazing event. You couldn’t say you could not say anything else, could you?”
The location itself is central to the feeling surrounding the fight.
The Pyramids of Giza are one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and have hosted countless historic moments across human history — but never a heavyweight title fight of this magnitude.
“You know the pyramids, the significance, the history there,” Verhoeven continued. “We did arenas. We’ve been all over the world. Been in the US. We’ve been in Australia, Japan, Australia, we’ve been everywhere. And now selling out arenas, and now we’re doing it in front of the pyramids. It’s something else. Yeah, it’s next level.”
That sense of occasion is being amplified by the match-up itself.
Usyk enters the bout as arguably the finest heavyweight boxer on the planet.
Usyk has not fought since that knockout win over Dubois in July, and although the WBO title has since been vacated, the WBC granted him permission to make a voluntary defence before facing interim champion Agit Kabayel.
Rather than opting for a routine mandatory defence, Usyk instead chose something entirely different.
He chose Verhoeven.
The Dutchman arrives in Egypt carrying one of the most dominant heavyweight resumes in kickboxing history. Widely regarded as the best heavyweight kickboxer of his era, Verhoeven built a staggering 66-10 record and ruled the GLORY heavyweight division for more than a decade.
His championship reign dated back to 2013, and he successfully defended the title 13 times before relinquishing it last November. Remarkably, he has not lost a kickboxing bout since 2015.
But despite the credentials, boxing presents an entirely different challenge.
Verhoeven has only one professional boxing bout on his record — a knockout win over Janos Finfera more than a decade ago — and stepping in against Usyk represents a dramatic leap in level.
It is a gamble few fighters in combat sports would willingly take.
Yet Verhoeven insists that is precisely why he accepted it.
“I spent 12 years as the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing champion and accomplished everything I set out to accomplish,” Verhoeven said.
“But staying at the top for that long didn’t take away the hunger, it strengthened it. I wasn’t looking for comfort, so I started looking for the highest challenge available in another world.
“Usyk is undisputed in boxing. That’s the kind of challenge that motivates me. Undisputed versus undisputed. The best facing the best.”
Featured image credit: X/DAZN/RingMagazine
