Undercard for Usyk-Verhoeven announced

Turki Alalshikh and The Ring Magazine announced on Friday the undercard for ‘Glory in Giza’ taking place in Egypt on Saturday May 23, which is headlined by unified heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk faces former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven as the headline bout.

Hamzah Sheeraz (22-0-1) and Alem Begic (29-0-1) lead the undercard in a clash of unbeaten fighters for the vacant WBO World Super Middleweight title, with Sheeraz returning to the ring for the first time in 2026 following a fifth-round knockout of Edgar Berlanga in New York last July.

British welterweight Jack Catterall (32-2-0) faces undefeated Uzbek contender Shakhram Giyasov (17-0-0) for the WBA Regular world title, with Catterall coming off a victory over WBO Global champion Ekow Essuman on the Eubank Jr vs Benn II undercard in November.

In a bout that originally scheduled to take place last week on the undercard of Fundora-Thurman, Cuban contender Frank Sanchez (25-1-0) will take on unbeaten Olympic silver medallist Richard Torrez Jr. (14-0-0) defending his WBC Americas and WBO NABO titles.

Ring Magazine Female Fighter of the Year Mizuki Hiruta (10–0-0) will defend her Ring and WBO World titles against Egyptian-born Australian Mai Soliman (10–1-0). This will be Hiruta’s seventh straight defence of her WBO belt, which she won back in September 2022, and her first bout on a major card.

Egyptian cruiserweight Basem Mamdouh (10-2-0) is also set to compete on home soil, taking on undefeated American Jamar Talley (6-0-0).

The undercard will also showcase emerging Egyptian talents with Mahmoud Mobark facing Michael Kalyalya and Omar Hikal taking on Ali Sserunkuma.