Congratulations to Usyk, on his sixth title defense...matching Marciano!

catchwtboxing · May 23, 2026

And he did it in Marciano fashion...shades of the Walcott fight.

Yeah, I know the stoppage was some bull****, but he did what he had to do. I am not upset that this was to a kickboxer...I told everyone that this was going to be a good fight:

catchwtboxing said: ↑

Look, Usyk is going to win this thing of course. But given the low bar, I think there is every chance that Verhoeven could do better than Joshua 1, who basically cruised to a loss, and Dubois, who was totally outclassed and stopped in two fights.

Verhoeven has some things going for him...

1) Working with Peter Fury for 14 years. Has sparred Tyson and a number of other very good fighters.
2) A huge man, that apparently does have good, powerful right, even if it does not translate to a KO percentage.
3) The heart, will, experience and expectations of a combat sports champion.
4) Awkward style. A lot of people forget that there is a fine tradition of guys like Troy Dorsey and James Warring coming from kickboxing and doing well because their opponents have some difficulty timing them. Similar to how major league hitters sometime have trouble in exhibitions against softball pitchers. "Different angles," as Rico says.
5) Kickboxers often have very good chins, and, sometimes, throw a high volume.

And, finally,

6) Usyk is almost certainly going to revert back to his slow start style and give Rico the opportunity to win rounds. It isn't going easy on him, it's how he used to fight, against Hunter, Bellew, Chisora, etc. When he is confident, he spends the first couple of rounds in second geat.
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He ought to retire now, though. If he is not going to keep up his legendary training, he should leave having gone just one fight too many.

As for Rico...congratulations on a great fight. Hope you stick around and win a few. This was historical.

Chuck Norris · May 23, 2026

Come on dude, Usyk was ass tonight and won via a BS stoppage. He looked like a total clown mentioning the war in Ukraine in the post fight interview.

catchwtboxing · May 23, 2026

Chuck Norris said: ↑

Come on dude, Usyk was ass tonight and won via a BS stoppage. He looked like a total clown mentioning the war in Ukraine in the post fight interview.
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This is my assessment after watching the fight:

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/look-usyk-won-that-fight-chavez-taylor-all-over-again.749717/

He looked like a clown for mentioning that his daughter was in a bomb shelter? That is a bit hard.

Gareth Priest · May 24, 2026

catchwtboxing said: ↑

And he did it in Marciano fashion...shades of the Walcott fight.

Yeah, I know the stoppage was some bull****, but he did what he had to do. I am not upset that this was to a kickboxer...I told everyone that this was going to be a good fight:

He ought to retire now, though. If he is not going to keep up his legendary training, he should leave having gone just one fight too many.

As for Rico...congratulations on a great fight. Hope you stick around and win a few. This was historical.
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*historic

Overhand94 · May 24, 2026

Your prediction post was spot on, congratulations.
I thought it would be an easy night for Usyk - who I feel would have stopped him during mid-fight - but Rico did far better than (almost) everyone expected, much better than Joshua and Dubois, and even better than Fury the first time.

Bofo24 · May 24, 2026

Congrats. Nonetheless, this could be another Ngannou opportunity for AJ. Would bring back his confidence again.

catchwtboxing · May 24, 2026

Overhand94 said: ↑

Your prediction post was spot on, congratulations.
I thought it would be an easy night for Usyk - who I feel would have stopped him during mid-fight - but Rico did far better than (almost) everyone expected, much better than Joshua and Dubois, and even better than Fury the first time.
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Thanks.

Like I told out friend Kirk--crossovers have always been a thing, and with MMA, they are only getting more common. We have had our successes like Holm winning and MMA title, and Mercer beating Silvia. Fighters are fighters, we are only going to see more of these, and sometimes, whether you are a fan of boxing, MMA, kickboxing or whatever, your guy is going to look bad,

I knew Rico was going to use his size and unothodox style to his advantage, and he has been studying for fourteen years to mix in the boxing that he needs.

OldSchoolBoxing · May 24, 2026

catchwtboxing said: ↑

He looked like a clown for mentioning that his daughter was in a bomb shelter?
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Don't he and his family live in the UK?

catchwtboxing · May 24, 2026

OldSchoolBoxing said: ↑

Doesn't he and his family live in the UK?
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Not that I heard. Maybe he lied. I don't know. He said his daughter was in a bomb shelter...his country is at war...I inferred they were in Ukraine.

roughdiamond · May 24, 2026

The fact this bout was not only sanctioned but counts as a title defense is a disgrace to the sport.

catchwtboxing · May 24, 2026

roughdiamond said: ↑

The fact this bout was not only sanctioned but counts as a title defense is a disgrace to the sport.
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You say this after that great fight? Everyone else wants a rematch.

Look, WBC has a my Thai division and have stated, however it was said, that they trust other strike-based martial artists to handle themselves in a boxing ring. I don't know the exact wording. Now that the fallout has fallen out, a lot of people realize that they watched some history, there.

roughdiamond · May 24, 2026

catchwtboxing said: ↑

You say this after that great fight? Everyone else wants a rematch.

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No they don't It's Kabayel or retirement. No one wanted this bout against a boxing novice in the first place. This is like Patterson Rademacher except if Rademacher was able to dog and impose his will for nearly the entire distance. Usyk should've won this easily. The fact this also actually counts as a defense when Rico did nothing to earn a shot shows the total corruption and sell out nature of modern boxing. Even Thai fighters and guys like Dorsey at least beat some decent boxers before their shots at titles.

You're usually a decent poster but your Usyk fanboyism is absolutely embarrassing. Just stop.

catchwtboxing · May 24, 2026

roughdiamond said: ↑

No they don't It's Kabayel or retirement. No one wanted this bout against a boxing novice in the first place. This is like Patterson Rademacher except if Rademacher was able to dog and impose his will for nearly the entire distance. Usyk should've won this easily. The fact this also actually counts as a defense when Rico did nothing to earn a shot shows the total corruption and sell out nature of modern boxing. Even Thai fighters and guys like Dorsey at least beat some decent boxers before their shots at titles.

You're usually a decent poster but your Usyk fanboyism is absolutely embarrassing. Just stop.
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You might want to watch a little youtube today. A rematch is going to do big money.

Serge · May 24, 2026

Floyd Patterson defended his world title vs an Olympic gold medalist who was making his pro debut

We've regularly seen complete mismatches in world title fights throughout all of boxing history where one of the fighters is so woefully overmatched and out of their depth they don't even stand the proverbial puncher's chance and didn't pose a fraction of the threat Rico did to the way smaller Usyk. In fact, it's so commonplace we even saw one last night with Sheeraz vs Begic. Sheeraz is now a world champion based of the back of that complete mismatch

catchwtboxing · May 24, 2026

Serge said: ↑

Floyd Patterson defended his world title vs an Olympic gold medalist who was making his pro debut

We've regularly seen complete mismatches in world title fights throughout all of boxing history where one of the fighters is so woefully overmatched and out of their depth they don't even stand the proverbial puncher's chance and didn't pose a fraction of the threat Rico did to the way smaller Usyk. In fact, it's so commonplace we even saw one last night with Sheeraz vs Begic. Sheeraz is now a world champion based of the back of that complete mismatch
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Notable too that Rademacher knocked Patterson down.

The curse of a great champ fighting a newby is nothing new.

Patterson-Rademacher (Patterson down)
Ali- Spinks (seven fights)
Holmes-Spinks (Michael was new to the division)
Fury-Ngannou
Mayweather-Conner (tougher than it should have been)
Now Usyk-Verhoeven

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Congratulations to Usyk, on his sixth title defense...matching Marciano!

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