Saturday at the Pyramids of Giza in Giza, Egypt, Oleksandr Usyk is defending his WBC Heavyweight Championship against former GLORY kickboxing Heavyweight Champion Rico Verhoeven. Usyk enters this fight with an undefeated, perfect 24-0 record with 15 knockouts. In kickboxing, Verhoeven has a record of 66-10, and this is his second boxing fight and first since 2014.
Check out my best bets for Saturday’s Glory in Giza boxing event headlined by Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven.
Oleksandr Usyk to Win In Rounds 7-12 (+230)
Usyk last beat Daniel Dubois by fifth-round knockout in July 2025. He is currently in the midst of one of the most dominant runs in recent memory, as he has two wins over Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Daniel Dubois since 2021. Now Usyk shifts his focus to a new challenge with Verhoeven in a battle between the best heavyweight boxer and kickboxer.
Verhoeven last beat Artem Vakhitov at GLORY 100 in June 2025. He has won 22 consecutive kickboxing fights and hasn’t lost since January 2015. Verhoeven is highly regarded as one of the greatest kickboxers of all time. In this contest, Verhoeven has the weight advantage as he hit the scale at 258.3, while Usyk weighed 233.3. Verhoeven is two inches taller (6’5″ vs. 6’3″) while having a slightly larger standing reach (78.5″ vs. 78″).
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Usyk is a massive -2500 favorite as Verhoeven is the underdog at +1100. Usyk is also -600 to win this contest by KO/TKO/DQ. Usyk is accustomed to being the smaller fighter and excels with his aggressiveness and speed. In Usyk’s last 10 fights, four of them have ended by knockout. Three of Usyk’s previous four knockouts have come in Rounds 7-12. It is likely that both fighters will feel each other out to start, as Verhoeven presents a unique style. But eventually Usyk will get into his rhythm, leading to a knockout.
Hamzah Sheeraz to Win In Rounds 1-6 (-160)
In the co-main event of this card, Hamzah Sheeraz takes on Alem Begic for the vacant Super Middleweight WBO Championship. Sheeraz is 22-01 while Begic’s record stands at 29-0-1. This is Begic’s first fight since April 2025, when he beat Mahdi Safdari by second-round knockout. In July 2025, Sheeraz picked up a big fifth-round knockout victory against Edgar Berlanga.
Sheeraz is a -2500 favorite while Begic is a +1100 underdog in this contest. Since Sheeraz is also -550 to win by knockout, I’m taking him to win in Rounds 1-6 at -160. That is because eight of Sheeraz’s last 10 wins have come in the first six rounds of the fight. Sheeraz has a rare combination of speed and power for someone who is only 26 years old. He has faced tough opponents in the past and is well prepared for this matchup. Coming off a year-plus layoff, Begic will likely struggle to find his timing against someone as talented as Sheeraz.
