

Photo by Mark Robinson/Getty Images
By Shawn De Guzman
World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is locked and loaded for his title defense against legendary kickboxer Rico Verhoeven at the Giza Necropolis on Sunday morning (Manila time).
The two-division undisputed champion weighed the heaviest in his career, tipping the scales 233.2 pounds in an effort to match the bigger and heavier frame of Verhoeven, who weighed 258.7 lbs for the bout dubbed as “Glory in Giza.”
Still, the undefeated Ukrainian remains as the heavy favorite in the contest, especially following his impressive fifth round knockout victory over Daniel Dubois in July last year.
Usyk is packing a 24-0 record with 15 knockouts.
But Verhoeven isn’t a pushover. Although only has one professional boxing fight in his resume, he is widely regarded as the king of kickboxing after dominating the Glory Kickboxing heavyweight division. He holds an impressive record of 66 wins against 10 defeats.
His lone boxing fight, however, came way back — 12 years ago to be exact when he defeated Janos Finfera via second round knockout.