Oleksandr Usyk has defeated every opponent placed in front of him during his legendary boxing career. This weekend, the undefeated heavyweight champion faces a very different kind of challenge when he meets Rico Verhoeven in Egypt.
The fight takes place in front of the Pyramids of Giza, where Usyk defends his WBC heavyweight title against one of kickboxing’s most accomplished names.
Many observers view the matchup as a difficult task for Verhoeven because of his limited boxing experience. The Dutch striker sees things differently.
Verhoeven Says His Background Creates Unpredictability
Speaking at Thursday’s press conference, Verhoeven explained why he believes his years in kickboxing could create problems Usyk has never dealt with before.
“I’m bringing something he hasn’t seen before because he’s only faced boxers,”
“They’ve been boxing their whole life, and I haven’t. It’s just like a whole different approach.”
Usyk enters the bout with a perfect professional record and a place among boxing’s all-time greats. The Ukrainian became the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era after defeating Tyson Fury in 2023.
Verhoeven, meanwhile, has spent most of his life dominating the kickboxing world. Now at 36 years old, he is testing himself in a completely different sport.
Peter Fury Helping Guide The Transition
Verhoeven has worked closely with veteran boxing trainer Peter Fury while preparing for the crossover fight. Fury, who previously trained Tyson Fury, has enjoyed helping the GLORY champion adjust to pure boxing.
“I was kickboxing since I was 6 years old, and I was 36 when I started transitioning into boxing, it was at the end of last year.”
“Of course, I was boxing, but I was boxing to kickbox. For Peter, it was a lot of fun because he was training me to box and kickbox, but now he’s training me to box, so he’s having a lot of fun.”
Verhoeven admitted the transition has forced him to rethink habits developed over decades in kickboxing.
“He’s had a lot of fun, especially for me, it was to be open-minded and to test myself.”
“I think we did quite a good job, and I’m going to showcase that to the world on Saturday.”
Verhoeven Focused Only On Winning
Unlike many crossover fighters, Verhoeven avoided making guarantees about knockouts or dramatic finishes. His focus remains on finding a way to beat one of boxing’s pound-for-pound best fighters.
“The first objective is to win. How we’re going to win? We’ll see. If it’s a knockout, it’s a knockout. If it’s a decision, it’s a decision.”
“If it will come to a decision and I get the win, wow. I faced the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world for years and years, and I beat him in 12 rounds. He tried everything, and he couldn’t beat me. That would be the ultimate.”
Read our predictions for Usyk vs Rico here.