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.

Advertisement

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.

Round one – unanimous

Palomo – 10-9 Verhoeven

Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven

Advertisement

Guggenheim -10-9 Verhoeven

Round two – unanimous

Palomo – 10-9 Verhoeven

Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven

Guggenheim -10-9 Verhoeven

Round three – unanimous

Palomo – 10-9 Usyk

Procopio -10-9 Usyk

Guggenheim – 10-9 Usyk

Round four – unanimous

Palomo – 10-9 Usyk

Procopio -10-9 Usyk

Guggenheim – 10-9 Usyk

Round five – unanimous

Palomo – 10-9 Usyk

Procopio -10-9 Usyk

Guggenheim – 10-9 Usyk

Round six – unanimous

Palomo – 10-9 Verhoeven

Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven

Guggenheim -10-9 Verhoeven

Round seven – unanimous

Palomo – 10-9 Verhoeven

Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven

Guggenheim -10-9 Verhoeven

Round eight – unanimous

Palomo – 10-9 Usyk

Procopio -10-9 Usyk

Advertisement

Guggenheim – 10-9 Usyk

Round nine – unanimous

Palomo – 10-9 Verhoeven

Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven

Guggenheim -10-9 Verhoeven

Round 10 – split

Palomo – 10-9 Usyk

Procopio – 10-9 Verhoeven

Guggenheim – 10-9 Usyk

More boxing from the BBC