Usyk-Verhoeven card unveiled in its entirety.
On the 23rd of May, Oleksandr Usyk will be defending his WBC heavyweight title against Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
The headline act has been subject to mixed reception due to it being a sanctioned title fight between one of the best boxers in the world and a career kickboxer.
However, the supporting cast to the main event has been announced, and it features a strong array of terrific fights.
The co-main event features Hamzah Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) facing Alem Begic (29-0-1, 23 KOs) for the vacant WBO super-middleweight title.
Britain’s Sheeraz is coming off of a destruction over Edgar Berlanga and will be returning after over a year out of the ring in his second title shot across as many weights.
Begic is a 38-year-old German who was the highest-ranked available contender after Diego Pacheco withdrew from negotiations with Sheeraz earlier this year.
Also featured is a fight between Jack Catterall (32-2, 14 KOs) and Shakhram Giyasov (17-0, 10 KOs) for the WBA (Regular) title.
Catterall is a former undisputed title challenger at super-lightweight who the vast majority of the boxing public thought should have picked up the full set of hardware in a very controversial 2022 loss to Josh Taylor.
Catterall has since beaten Taylor and moved up to welterweight to score wins over Harlem Eubank and Ekow Essuman.
Giyasov is the mandatory challenger for the full WBA title. A former Olympic silver medallist, the Uzbek faces the biggest test of his career against Britain’s Catterall.
Next is a rescheduled heavyweight dust-up between American hope Richard Torrez Jr. (14-0, 12 KOs) and hard-hitting Cuban contender Frank Sanchez (25-1 (1), 18 KOs).
This fight was originally scheduled to be on the undercard of last week’s Sebastian Fundora vs. Keith Thurman card, but was cancelled when Sanchez pulled out with a knee injury.
Torrez is a former Olympic silver medallist who is regarded as the biggest U.S. hope at heavyweight. Sanchez is a highly-ranked player who has appeared against some of the best names in the division. This fight is an IBF title eliminator.
Next up is a title fight in the female super-flyweight division between The Ring’s 2025 “Female Fighter of the Year” Mizuki Hiruta (10-0, 2 KOs) and Mai Soliman (10-1, 6 KOs).
Hiruta will be making the 7th defence of her WBO title, and her The Ring title will also be on the line.
Then there is a cruiserweight clash between Basem Mamdouh (10-2, 4 KOs) and Jamar Talley (6-0, 5 KOs).
Talley is an unbeaten American who represents some more rare U.S. presence in the heavier classes, and in Mamdouh, he is facing an Egyptian on foreign soil.
The last two fights feature the professional debuts of Egypt’s Omar Hikal and Mohamed Mabrouk Yehya, who will be introduced to the paid ranks by Ali Sserunkuma (2-3-1, 0 KOs) and Michael Kalyalya (3-4-1, 1 KO), respectively.
History Awaits 🇪🇬 @jack_catt93 and @ShakhramG meet on the Usyk-Verhoeven card at the Pyramids of Giza, May 23 ⚔️
Live on the global home of boxing, DAZN 👊 pic.twitter.com/i1eQTVgyQQ
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) April 3, 2026
Want to get the latest boxing news direct to your phone? Join our WhatsApp community by clicking here.
