Oleksandr Usyk, kickboxer Rico Verhoeven agree to bout at Pyramids of Giza

The biggest fights of 2026 might all be circuses.

But this one, relative to the other two, could provide the best action.

Unified world boxing heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk — formerly undisputed before vacating the WBO title last year — will face kickboxing legend and longtime Glory Heavyweight Champion Rico Verhoeven in Egypt.

The May 23 fight is the first boxing matchup to ever take place at the Pyramids and the third boxing event in Egypt this year.

The fight is scheduled for 12 rounds and is for the WBC World Heavyweight Championship.

Usyk, who is 24-0 with 15 knockouts, also holds the IBF, WBA and IBO heavyweight titles, and is a consensus No. 1 or No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer in the world, depending on how you also would rank undisputed super bantamweight king Naoya Inoue, following the recent retirement of former three-time undisputed champion Terence Crawford.

Usyk most recently stopped former IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois in July, knocking him out in the fifth round of their Wembley Stadium fight.

Most notably, the Ukrainian boxing legend has two wins over Tyson Fury and another two against Anthony Joshua.

Verhoeven will be competing in only his second professional boxing match.

The Dutch native won a bout by knockout in 2014.

Verhoeven is 66-10 with 21 knockouts, and hasn’t lost a bout since 2015.

Verhoeven arrives at this bout with 22 consecutive victories.

He also won an MMA fight by TKO in 2015.