Oleksandr Usyk, the unified WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion, confirmed on Tuesday that he intends to retire after three more fights, beginning with a WBC title defense against former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.
The 39-year-old Ukrainian (24-0, 15 KOs) laid out the full sequence: after Verhoeven, he plans to face the winner of the May 9 WBO title fight between Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois, then close his career with a trilogy against Tyson Fury. Usyk vacated the WBO belt in December 2025 rather than face a mandatory challenger, and the roadmap now charts a path to reclaim it before the final curtain.
The plan effectively sketches how the heavyweight title picture could be reorganized over the coming months, with Usyk at the centre of every move.
Verhoeven and the Giza Spectacle
The first leg is the most unusual. Rico Verhoeven, the 36-year-old Dutchman widely regarded as the greatest heavyweight kickboxer in history, held the Glory Kickboxing heavyweight title for more than 11 consecutive years before departing the sport in November 2025. His record in that arena: 66-10 with 21 KOs — 14 title-bout wins, 13 consecutive defenses, and a 27-fight winning streak.
His professional boxing record tells a different story. Verhoeven’s only bout under boxing rules was a second-round knockout of Janos Finfera (0-5) in April 2014, more than a decade ago.
According to Sky Sports, the WBC has granted Usyk a special exemption to make this voluntary defense ahead of mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel. The event, branded “Glory in Giza” and orchestrated by Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh, will stream globally on DAZN. It is reportedly the first professional boxing event ever staged at the Pyramids.
Usyk addressed the matchup directly. “I truly respect people who reach the very top in their sport. Rico is one of them,” he said. “But this is boxing, a different game, with its own rules and its own kings.”
Verhoeven, who has sparred with Fury and trained under coach Peter Fury, framed the fight as a meeting of equals across disciplines. “Undisputed versus undisputed. The best facing the best,” he said.
Previous heavyweight crossover bouts, Fury’s split decision over Francis Ngannou in 2023 and Anthony Joshua’s second-round knockout of Ngannou in 2024, were both non-title affairs. This one carries a sanctioned world title, making this a sanctioned world title defense.
Fabio Wardley, the WBO heavyweight champion (20-0-1, 19 KOs), was blunt in his assessment. “I don’t feel like it’s a real, genuine challenge nor someone that deserves the shot,” Wardley said, before conceding that Usyk “has earned the position to, in that sense, take an easy fight.”
The WBO and Fury Legs
Usyk’s second fight would address the belt he left behind. Wardley, the Ipswich-born fighter who stopped Joseph Parker in October 2025 to claim the interim WBO title before being elevated to full champion, defends against Daniel Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs) on May 9 at Co-op Live in Manchester. Dubois, the former IBF champion whom Usyk stopped in five rounds in July 2025, is looking to become a two-time world title holder.
Whichever man emerges with the WBO belt will have Usyk waiting.
The trilogy with Fury would serve as the final act. Usyk holds a 2-0 lead in the rivalry, having won via split decision in May 2024 to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era, then taking the rematch by unanimous decision seven months later. Fury is currently scheduled to face Arslanbek Makhmudov in April 2026 before any trilogy can be finalized.
The immediate focus shifts to May. On the 9th, Wardley and Dubois will determine who holds the WBO title. Two weeks later, Usyk steps into the ring at Giza against a man with one professional boxing fight to his name.
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