Unified heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk will have only one of his three world titles on the line, when he fights kick boxing champ Rico Verhoeven Saturday night May 23rd in Egypt.
We knew that unified heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk will be defending the WBC world title next weekend against kick boxer Rico Verhoeven. Now, there is finally some clarity on the status of two other world sanctioning bodies decisions with respect to the fight.
Insider Dan Rafael had more on his Substack that the WBA and the IBF will allow the future hall of famer Usyk to keep his belts entering the ring. However, should he lose, they both will declare their version of the heavyweight crown "vacant."
Here's more from what Rafael wrote,
"The WBA ruled that should Usyk win the bout it will officially count as a successful title defense but if he loses the WBA would “review his status and determine the next course of action regarding the heavyweight championship.” Because Verhoeven has had only one pro boxing match (a second-round knockout win in 2014 against an 0-5 opponent) and is not ranked, he is ineligible to win belt even if he beats Usyk. If he does win he would be eligible to enter the WBA heavyweight rankings."
Rafael continued with regard to the IBF, which has had a tendency to strip their champions quicker for failure to follow it's rules on title defenses, etc.
He relayed a letter that he has seen updating to Usyk's team their position on this fight against a non-ranked, essentially novice, boxer.
“The WBC has sanctioned the Usyk vs. Verhoeven bout and indicated that it will enforce its mandatory bout next (against Agit Kabayel),” the IBF wrote. “Based on the rotation system, the WBA mandatory bout would follow the WBC mandatory. Accordingly, the IBF determined that there are no affected boxers, as the IBF acknowledges the rotation system (for mandatories for unified champions) among the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO.
“On April 29, 2026, the IBF Board of Directors convened by video conference and determined that Usyk’s exception request should be granted.”
The IBF then laid out its conditions:
- If Usyk loses the IBF heavyweight title will be declared vacant immediately.
- If Usyk wins the IBF will acknowledge the WBC’s position in the rotation and order the IBF mandatory bout for 180 days thereafter.
- If the WBA grants a special permit, the IBF will acknowledge the WBA’s position in the rotation and order the IBF mandatory bout for 180 days thereafter.
- The IBF reserves the right to amend the mandatory date in the event of substantial delays in the rotation."
It should also be noted that when the Ukrainian Usyk beat Daniel Dubois by TKO in their rematch in July of last year, he was fulfilling the IBF's requirement to fight their mandatory challenger.
This means that the WBC is next in the rotation of unified defenses for Usyk and that would be their interim champ Kabayel to fight or be stripped and then, the WBA would be next in line followed by the IBF.
Of course, as the scenarios suggest, in the unlikely event of a Verhoeven upset on May 23rd, he'll be the WBC world champ (and required to fight Kabayel). but the WBA will decide later what to do with Verhoeven's status and the IBF belt will be vacated.
The fourth organization, the WBO, had stripped Usyk last Fall for failure to defend against their mandatory challenger, Joseph Parker. Dubois just gained the full WBO heavyweight crown last Saturday night with his TKO of champ Fabio Wardley and those two are expected to rematch late this year.