00:02Alexander Usyk escaped disaster against kickboxing giant Riko Verhoeven beneath the Pirates of Giza.
00:08The unified heavyweight champion survived a genuine scare before scoring a wildly controversial
00:1311th round TKO that saved him from one of the biggest upsets in history.
00:19The whole thing was a head scratcher from the start. Just the idea of the heavyweight champion
00:25throwing hands against a kickboxer beside the pyramids on a card called Glory in Giza sounded absurd.
00:32But the WBC president, Mauricio Silliman, was all in on it.
00:37The WBC creates this unique belt for the winner of Alexander Usyk and Riko.
00:46They're fighting for the first time in the dream pyramids of Egypt.
00:52So this could be the only ever event like this.
00:57We created this king of the Nile belt with all the elements of this beautiful millennial country for the winner.
01:06Usyk, already the two-time undisputed heavyweight king, was only risking his WBC strap
01:11because Verhoeven was effectively a boxing debutant.
01:16The Dutch kickboxing superstar was stepping into a professional boxing match for just the second time in his life.
01:22His only other appearance was in 2015.
01:24And you could bet the farm on the fact that his opponent wasn't anywhere near the caliber of Usyk.
01:29Still, Usyk wasn't counting his chickens.
01:34For me, it's not an easy fight.
01:36My opponent is a dangerous guy.
01:39He's a very big guy and undisputed kickboxing champion.
01:46I'm hard to prepare.
01:47My focus, every time, you know, my discipline and hungry percent.
01:52I prepared this fight hard and Saturday, I look good fight.
01:58Rico dangerous, but I'm ready.
02:02Thank God.
02:02This fight at the pyramids, like you said, it's historical.
02:06It's amazing to be a part of it, to headline it.
02:08First is one of the very best to ever do it.
02:11So I feel blessed to be here.
02:13I'm enjoying every second of it.
02:15And yeah, let's go.
02:18Verhoeven wasn't some random crossover novelty.
02:20The man has ruled Glory Kickboxing's heavyweight division since 2014.
02:24And he sits comfortably among the sport's all-time elite.
02:28Rico could absolutely fight.
02:30But there was no reason to think he could box well enough to survive at this level.
02:37As usual, the WBC saw money to be made and rolled the dice.
02:41But the WBA and IBF weren't buying it.
02:44Neither organization sanctioned the matchup because of Verhoeven's boxing inexperience.
02:48And Usyk was the heavy favorite, expected to flatten the Dutchman in just a few rounds.
02:55I'm bringing something what he hasn't seen before because he's only facing, he only faced boxers.
03:01And they have been boxing their whole life.
03:03And I haven't.
03:05So it's just like a whole different approach.
03:09I have no idea, you know, how many rounds this is fight.
03:14I'm not sad if 12 rounds, it's best normal.
03:18But I don't know.
03:21When I have a chance, I do.
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