Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven prediction: Who will win and how

CAIRO, EGYPT - MAY 19: Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven Face Off for the the first time in fight week at "The Pyramids of Giza" ahead of their fight on Saturday night on May 19, 2026 in Cairo, Egypt. (Photo by Mark Robinson/Getty Images) | Getty Images Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven are set to meet in Egypt on Saturday, with Usyk’s WBC heavyweight title on the line, and his WBA title set to go vacant if he doesn’t win. There are stakes in this fight, and while it’s easy enough to dismiss kickboxer Verhoeven as a “clown” opponent, I wouldn’t go quite that far.

He’s not a professional boxer by trade — he’s had one fight, and it was 12 years ago against an opponent who would also be charitably described as “a professional boxer. ” But he’s a serious combat athlete and a serious man. Anyone his size, who is as good at fighting as he is, cannot be totally ignored or laughed off.

Oleksandr Usyk’s recent form Usyk may be the best boxer on the planet. He may be the best boxer of a generation. He is a no-doubt Hall of Famer — undisputed at cruiserweight, undisputed at heavyweight (twice!

), he’s beaten the best opponents out there, several of them repeatedly. His pro career is an undisputed HOF vote alone, before you even get into his amateur boxing career and the several championships and gold medals there, including the 2012 Olympics, which had a strong heavyweight (201 lbs) field, and he was the clear cream of the crop. Now 39, Usyk is winding down his time in boxing.