Heavyweight boxing king Oleksandr Usyk retained his titles after a dramatic and controversial stoppage victory over kick-boxer Rico Verhoeven with a second left of the 11th round in Egypt on Saturday.

GIZA, Egypt, May 23 (Reuters) - Ukraine's unbeaten heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk stopped Dutch former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven with one second left in the penultimate round of a WBC title fight on Saturday to avoid one of the greatest boxing upsets of all time.

GIZA, Egypt (AP) — Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk survived a scare to earn an 11th-round stoppage against Rico Verhoeven, a Dutch kickboxer who pushed the undefeated Ukrainian to his limits on Saturday.

Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk survived a scare to earn an 11th-round stoppage against Rico Verhoeven, a Dutch kickboxer who pushed the undefeated Ukrainian to his limits on Saturday. In a chaotic ending,

Oleksandr Usyk came through a gritty contest to beat a game Rico Verhoeven and retain his heavyweight world titles. Usyk, 39, was pushed to his limits by Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, but ultimately delivered the goods with one second remaining in the 11th round.

Lineal heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) will defend the WBC heavyweight title against kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven (1-0). WBC president Maurcio Sulaiman has talked about the bout.