The President of the World Boxing Council (WBC), Mauricio Sulaiman, has indicated his willingness to sanction a rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven for the heavyweight championship. This comes after Usyk’s victory over Verhoeven by technical knockout in the 11th round on May 24.
With this win, Usyk retained his titles from the WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring. For Verhoeven, this match marked only his second in professional boxing, yet he managed to nearly complete the full 11 rounds against the undefeated champion and even held a slight lead on the judges’ scorecards after 10 rounds.
Sulaiman believes a rematch is warranted for Verhoeven, but he emphasized that Usyk must first face Agit Kabayel, the mandatory challenger from Germany, who had entered the ring with Usyk in Giza.
“Absolutely, yes,” Sulaiman stated regarding the possibility of a sanctioned rematch between Usyk and Verhoeven. “But Kabayel is the mandatory challenger,” he added in comments made on the YouTube channel Pro Boxing Fans.
“Rico will definitely enter the WBC rankings. He deserves another shot at the world title. [Kabayel] is next for Usyk.”
Usyk is required to fight Kabayel to maintain his status as the unified world champion. Should he decline to face the German contender, Usyk may be compelled to vacate the WBC title, one of the three major belts he currently holds in the heavyweight division.
Additionally, Usyk faces challengers from two other organizations: British boxer Moses Itauma (WBA) and Cuban Frank Sanchez, who secured an IBF eliminator victory on the undercard of the Usyk vs. Verhoeven event on May 23.
The Ukrainian champion has confirmed that he plans to compete in two more professional bouts before retiring from boxing.
Mauricio Sulaiman, WBC President, expressed readiness for a rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven following Usyk's recent victory. However, Usyk must first face mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel to retain his WBC title.