CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Heavyweight boxing king Oleksandr Usyk retained his titles after a dramatic and controversial stoppage victory over kick-boxer Rico Verhoeven with a second left of the 11th round in Egypt on Saturday.

In the shadow of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Verhoeven had rocked the Ukrainian champion and seemed to be leading before he was dropped and eventually stopped.

"I thought it was an early stoppage but in the end it's not up to me," Verhoeven told DAZN.

"I wanted the referee to let me go out on my shield or let me go in the 12th. I felt we were pretty even on the scorecards."

He said he was thankful for the opportunity and revealed that Usyk had offered him a rematch.

"I am super proud of my performance and hopefully, the boxing world embraces me as a boxer," he added.

Despite having fought the likes of former champions Tyson Fury, Antony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, Usyk was given perhaps his toughest heavyweight fight by a man who had only boxed once before, in 2014.

Verhoeven is a legend of kick-boxing but no one expected him to cause the great Usyk so many problems in a boxing bout.

"I know right now, Ukrainian people are sitting in the bomb shelter, my daughter too, in a bomb shelter, sent me a message saying, 'Papa, I love you, you will win,'" said Usyk, who retained the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation belts.

"Thank you so much, Rico. You are an amazing fighter. Thank you so much to your team. My team, I love you. My wife, I love you. You are my light and my heart.”

"This fight was hard. It was a good fight."

Until the controversial stoppage, Verhoeven had proved to be more than a tricky competitor and gave Usyk a huge scare.

His jerky style, bulldozing aggression and powerful right hand had troubled a sluggish-looking Usyk for most of the fight.

The fight had attracted a host of boxing greats to ringside including Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Terence Crawford, Gennady Golovkin and former heavyweight champions Joshua and Andy Ruiz.

But as an exhausted Verhoeven started to labour in the 11th round, Usyk unleashed a stunning uppercut to drop the Dutchman.

There were only seconds left of the round to survive after Verhoeven climbed off the canvas.

But Usyk went straight in for the finish, unleashing a flurry of punches before the referee called off the bout with Verhoeven stumbling, but still on his feet.

With so little time left in the round, it seemed a hugely controversial call from the referee.

Despite Verhoeven soaking up heavy punishment, he was likely still leading the fight.

He had started well, landing a couple of vicious right hands in the opening round.

Usyk struggled to find his range, and although he had a good fourth round, rocking Verhoeven with an uppercut, he seemed to be losing most of the early rounds.