Is Oleksandr Usyk Following in Floyd Mayweather’s Footsteps?

Usyk, a southpaw from Simferopol, Ukraine, enters the fight undefeated in 24 fights with 15 stoppages. The Ukrainian champion has already established himself as one of the most accomplished fighters of his era, first dominating the cruiserweight division before moving up to heavyweight and defeating Anthony Joshua twice to claim multiple world titles.

Verhoeven comes from a very different background. The Dutch fighter, who is known as the “Prince of Kickboxing,” has compiled a 54-10 record in professional kickboxing with 16 stoppages. His professional boxing experience is extremely limited. Verhoeven fought once in boxing in 2014, winning by knockout to move to 1-0 with one stoppage.

The situation mirrors what happened almost a decade ago when Floyd Mayweather Jr faced UFC star Conor McGregor. On August 26, 2017, Mayweather entered the ring with a perfect record of 49-0 while McGregor made his professional boxing debut after building his reputation in mixed martial arts.

That fight, which took place in Las Vegas, ended with Mayweather stopping McGregor at 1:25 of the scheduled tenth round of twelve. The victory pushed Mayweather’s record to 50-0, surpassing the long-standing mark of 49-0 set by heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano in 1955.

Financially, the event was huge. The Mayweather-McGregor fight generated approximately 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, making it one of the most successful combat sports events of all time.

Now the question is whether the Usyk-Verhoeven matchup can generate similar attention. While Verhoeven brings a great kickboxing reputation, he doesn’t carry the same crossover celebrity that McGregor brought to the Mayweather event.

However, the location alone may be distracting. Promoters have chosen the Pyramids of Giza as the venue, an unusual location intended to give the event visibility and a global view.

Meanwhile, Mayweather himself is gearing up for another high-profile appearance. The former five-division champion is scheduled to face Manny Pacquiao again on September 19 in what would be a rematch of their 2015 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In their first meeting on May 2, 2015, Mayweather defeated Pacquiao by decision to retain the WBC and WBO welterweight titles.

That fight generated more than 4.6 million pay-per-view buys, the highest total in boxing history.

There is uncertainty as to whether Usyk’s clash with Verhoeven can approach those numbers. The crossover concept has worked before, but success often depends on the personalities involved as much as the sporting competition itself.

For now, the bout raises a simple question: can a boxing champion facing a star from another combat sport capture the same kind of attention that Floyd Mayweather once did?

On May 23 in Egypt, Oleksandr Usyk will try to find out.