Photo by Mark Robinson/Getty Images

By Shawn De Guzman

Reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk evaded a huge upset axe and pulled through with an 11th round stoppage against Rico Verhoeven to retain the crown on Sunday at the Giza Necropolis in Egypt.

Trailing the scorecards after 10 rounds, largely behind Verhoeven’s size and aggressiveness, Usyk displayed poise under pressure and delivered a thunderous uppercut to send his Dutch challenger down in the 11th round.

Verhoeven managed to stand up but Usyk made sure there wouldn’t be any monumental upset as came in and showered Verhoeven with punches at the corner before the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight with one second remaining in the 11th round.

Usyk improved to a 25-0 record with 16 knockouts but most importantly, avoided what could have been one of the biggest upsets of boxing history.

“The fight was hard,” Usyk said in the post-fight interview. “He did good to prepare. It was a good fight.

Photo by Mohamed Hossam/Getty Images

Indeed, it was as the Ukrainian champion was forced to be on the defensive with Verhoeven imposing his size advantage to land the cleaner shots through the first 10 rounds.

He even rocked Usyk with a big left in the seventh round. But Usyk, knowing he was behind the scores, rallied back beginning the 10th round when the Ukrainian champion finally landed counters that stopped the pressing Dutch on his tracks.

It was a close call for Usyk as two of the judges had the contest tied during the stoppage, 95-95 while one had it for Verhoeven, 96-94.