Oleksandr Usyk pulled a knockout win from the jaws of defeat by stopping Rico Verhoeven in the 11th round of their heavyweight world title fight in Egypt.
The defending WBC champion was being out-boxed and out-muscled by massive underdog Verhoeven, who transitioned from kickboxing for the fight.
At ringside, the three judges – Manuel Oliver Palomo, Pasquale Procopio and Fabian Guggenheim – saw a razor-thin contest.
Two judges had it 95-95 while Procopio had it 96-94 to Verhoeven at the time of the stoppage.
They were unanimous in their scoring in every round except the 10th round.
Verhoeven dominated the opening rounds before the fight ebbed and flowed, according to the judges.
Were the fight to have continued, Usyk would have been given a 10-8 score for the 11th round, which would have put Verhoeven behind on the cards in the final round.
- Usyk stops Verhoeven in last-ditch knockout in world title fight – reaction
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Round one – unanimous
Palomo – 10-9 Verhoeven
Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven
Guggenheim -10-9 Verhoeven
Round two – unanimous
Palomo – 10-9 Verhoeven
Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven
Guggenheim -10-9 Verhoeven
Round three – unanimous
Palomo – 10-9 Usyk
Procopio -10-9 Usyk
Guggenheim – 10-9 Usyk
Round four – unanimous
Palomo – 10-9 Usyk
Procopio -10-9 Usyk
Guggenheim – 10-9 Usyk
Round five – unanimous
Palomo – 10-9 Usyk
Procopio -10-9 Usyk
Guggenheim – 10-9 Usyk
Round six – unanimous
Palomo – 10-9 Verhoeven
Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven
Guggenheim -10-9 Verhoeven
Round seven – unanimous
Palomo – 10-9 Verhoeven
Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven
Guggenheim -10-9 Verhoeven
Round eight – unanimous
Palomo – 10-9 Usyk
Procopio -10-9 Usyk
Guggenheim – 10-9 Usyk
Round nine – unanimous
Palomo – 10-9 Verhoeven
Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven
Guggenheim -10-9 Verhoeven
Round 10 – split
Palomo – 10-9 Usyk
Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven
Guggenheim – 10-9 Usyk
