Finally, on May 23, one of the most anticipated boxing matches took place between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven, with Usyk securing the knockout win against Verhoeven that everyone expected.

But despite losing the bout, Milos Sarcev compared Verhoeven to Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa.

On May 24, Sarcev posted two photos of himself with Verhoeven, captioning them, “RICO ALMOST PULLED THE ROCKY! 🥊🔥”

“Rico Verhoeven @ricoverhoeven 🙌 fought an incredible 11 rounds of boxing against arguably this generation’s greatest heavyweight — Oleksandr Usyk @usykaa 🙌.”

So, Sarcev compared Verhoeven to Rocky because the situation resembled the movie. In that movie, Rocky Balboa played an underdog boxer whom no one believed in.

Yet, Balboa survived against stronger, more conditioned and better-trained competitors through determination. And Sarcev sees the same determination in the Dutch kickboxer, although the game took an uncertain twist.

For context, Sarcev wrote, “And then… the fight gets stopped literally at the buzzer?!? 🤯 I simply cannot understand how something like this happens in a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP fight.”

This is not some local novice show or ‘corner of the street’ championship…. For the love of God: THIS IS THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD!!! Respect to Rico for showing heart, courage, and elite boxing skills that few people believed he possessed 👊.”

Now, let's have a look at what actually happened in the match.

A look inside the Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven match

Although many fans were clearly confident in Usyk’s win, Verhoeven put up a tough fight against the champion.

Over 10 rounds, the Dutch boxer showed that he belonged in the ring. By then, Verhoeven was so dominant that many thought he was likely to win.

But Verhoeven’s flow cost him in the 11th round. In that round, Verhoeven rushed forward, and Usyk cracked him with a nasty uppercut.

Just when, after being dropped by Usyk, Verhoeven got back to his feet and started fighting, Usyk unloaded punches until the referee stopped the match.

By then, Verhoeven’s coaches protested that the match was over.

After that match, Verhoeven earned praise and respect from his fans and became a bodybuilding legend. This is indeed a win in itself.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil