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.
