Rico Verhoeven is expected to receive a WBC heavyweight ranking after pushing Oleksandr Usyk harder than most expected in Giza. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said the sanctioning body believes Verhoeven earned serious consideration following his 11th-round stoppage loss to Usyk.
Sulaiman also said the WBC would be open to approving a rematch after the controversial ending. “Absolutely. Yes,” Sulaiman said when asked if the organization would sanction Usyk vs. Verhoeven 2. But he also made clear there is one major issue: “Kabayel is a mandatory contender.”
Agit Kabayel remains the WBC mandatory challenger, which means Usyk may not have a free path to a Verhoeven rematch if he wants to keep that belt. Kabayel has been waiting for his title shot, and his team has already made clear they will push for the WBC to enforce the order.
Still, Sulaiman believes Verhoeven changed the conversation with his performance. “I believe the right thing would be Rico is going to get ranked for sure by the WBC, and he deserves to fight again for the world title,” he said. Asked where Verhoeven could land, Sulaiman suggested it may be high: “Top, top, top.”
The WBC had taken criticism for sanctioning Usyk against a kickboxing champion with limited boxing experience, but Sulaiman defended the decision after the fight. “We took a lot of criticism, and now we will not hear anything said,” he said. “The result was it.”
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