Turki Alalshikh Gives Blunt Verdict on Usyk-Verhoeven Stoppage

One topic has dominated the talk in the boxing community over the past 24 hours, and that's the controversial stoppage which ended Sunday's heavyweight fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven on Saturday night.

Verhoeven, the underdog coming into the bout, won rounds and looked set to reach the final round. And while Usyk hurt the challenger, the stoppage occurred after the bell, upsetting the crowd and fans worldwide.

Some of boxing's biggest names have weighed in on the stoppage, including Canelo Alvarez, who came out in favor of the decision, while others, like Jake Paul, have spoken out against it.

Through the tumult, one person saw the fight as simultaneously a dark day and an opportunity. Turki Alalshikh, the head of the General Entertainment Authority and Riyadh Season, watched a heavyweight challenger give the unified world champion the best fight he's seen in years. Alalshikh wants the fight to serve as a watershed moment.

Turki Alalshikh weighs in on fight stoppage and reveals future plans

In front of a capacity crowd in Giza, Egypt, Verhoeven did not let the aura or reputation of Usyk steer him. He looked faster than the champion, beating him on multiple exchanges. And on Sunday, Mike Coppinger reported how Turki Alalshikh felt about the fight and the stoppage and what his future plans are.

"@Turki_alalshikh tells me: 'It was a bad stoppage; Rico deserved to continue to fight. It’s clear that Usyk was controlling in the end, but the referee should have allowed the fight to reach a clear result. It is now Usyk's call as to what he does next. Kabayel has waited a long time. We want to do the fight in a stadium in Germany. And thereafter, we want to see the rematch with Rico. And I want to do two more fights with Rico. I had Rico up three rounds entering the 11th round.”

.@Turki_alalshikh tells me: “It was a bad stoppage, Rico deserved to continue to fight. It’s clear that Usyk was controlling in the end, but the referee should have allowed the fight to reach clear result. It is the call of Usyk now what he does next. Kabayel has waited a long… pic.twitter.com/XD2c78d4Xv
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) May 24, 2026

Agit Kabayel is the No. 3 heavyweight in the world according to Ring Magazine. Alalshikh wants to highlight him with a fight in Germany, where the 33-year-old is from. An arena stadium in a sports-thirsty country like Germany would attract large crowds and regional attention. Kabayel hopes to become the first German-born world heavyweight champion since Max Schmeling.

Alalshikh claims that Kabayel waited for his turn. However, his victory list does not scream elite competition. With victories over Frank Sanchez and Derek Chisora as his main claim to fame, he may need to schedule Kayabel a bigger fight or two to fill a stadium first.

Usyk, controversy or not, still sits atop the division. As a result, everything still runs through him. If he wants to silence critics, an immediate rematch against Verhoeven should be his next move. Still, he did not look crisp against an inexperienced boxer, which could make the rest of the division start salivating.

Everyone will be keeping their eyes and ears open to see what Alalshikh announces next.

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