Round-by-Round: Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven - 23 May 2026

[gregregegg]

This being a vacant title is a travesty.

How would you explain that to someone that isn’t a boxing fan without having neg to explain how dogshit corrupt/bias boxing is.

Amazing how gutless comms are to act like this is legit and not a farce.

[handsofstone]

Mismatch as predicted, Begic massively out of his depth, Sheeraz must've nailed him with 50 left hooks in the 2 rounds it lasted, walked Begic down, jabbed his head off, was tagging him repeatedly with lefts that had him stumbling and the ref hovering before a wicked left to the body put Begic down for the count

[Ruthless-RKO]

Not really his fault Pacheco chickened out

[Taansend]

10 months since he fought Berlanga

He's wasted 10 months of his prime

Not really because you don't fight the day after a fight, so you.

Maybe wasted 6 months of his prime

[Heldenjaeger]

Begic back in the office in Switzerland on Monday morning after getting sacrificed for a vacant title shot.

[Ruthless-RKO]

This is pooor

[rd350lc]

Absolute joke of a "world title" fight.
Could have picked a dozen British lads that would have made it a mildly competitive fight.
Very, very disappointing.

[MightyWarrior]

Embarrassing

[Heldenjaeger]

A word on Andy Lee. If your biggest coaching achievement in 2026 is rebuilding confidence by feeding your fighter a Swiss office worker with a padded record, maybe you’re not the mastermind you think you are.

[gregregegg]

Anyone know of vacant world title fights (not wba regular or ibo) where the opponent was genuinely not top 50 in the division? I feel I have seen some bad ones but this might be the worst.

[CaptainSpacerod]

10 months since he fought Berlanga

He's wasted 10 months of his prime

Not really because you don't fight the day after a fight, so you.

Maybe wasted 6 months of his prime

Yeah you're right

I maybe phrased my comment poorly. I'm not really having a pop at him, I'm having a pop at the business for having an exciting, talented KO artist on the sidelines for months before fighting a ridiculously overmatched opponent in a joke fight.

He should be out again in 3 months maximum but he probably won't fight again til Nov / Dec a full 18 months after announcing himself to the world vs Berlanga

[margaret thatcher]

i had never even heard of alem before this fight

[margaret thatcher]

Not really his fault Pacheco chickened out

utterly ridiculous alem was even near a position to be the replacement , shouldnt be ranked in the top 50

[Kilburn]

i had never even heard of alem before this fight

Well at least we now know Begic can be knocked out. There was considerable uncertainty around this beforehand.

[margaret thatcher]

[Controversial]

Overeem certainly slimmed down

[margaret thatcher]

overeem one of the most obviously roided up fighters in combat sports, i remember when he was just a lanky guy getting stopped by chuck liddell in pride

[gregregegg]

Bellew looks bigger than overeem… bellew was a 175er when overeem was cutting weight to make 265…

[Ricky]

Sheeraz is talented but I think the talk of Canelo is a bit silly considering he just beat a journeyman.

[deadpan]

Jeez, this is more padded than a drug mule's luggage.

[Controversial]

Bellew looks bigger than overeem… bellew was a 175er when overeem was cutting weight to make 265…

Bellew has filled out, he’s got big heels on though

[Ricky]

This broadcast is torture, feel like I'm listening to a couple of blabbermouths in a pub.

[Glass Joe]

Will rico do better than dave Allen bet now

[gregregegg]

Sheeraz is talented but I think the talk of Canelo is a bit silly considering he just beat a journeyman.

The talk is for may 2027… I have hamzat a strong favorite by then. He will be 27 just entering his real prime. Canelo will be 36 with 1 million kms on the clock and has arguably been slowly sliding for 5 years….

Also yes he just beat a journeyman. But he has also stopped ammo and berlanga, couple of very decent names.

[SeanBrennan]

Jeez, this is more padded than a drug mule's luggage.

Ironic with Peter Fury there