Glory in Giza’: Why Rico Verhoeven’s Boxing Debut vs. Usyk Is Just the Start
Rico Verhoeven has confirmed that his upcoming fight against Oleksandr Usyk is not a one-off crossover bout but the first in a series of planned fights across combat sports. Verhoeven stated that the Usyk fight is just ‘one of many’ and he is aiming to build a long-term presence in boxing, with potential future bouts possibly including a move to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Talk of a Cross-Discipline Super Series
Verhoeven has achieved a level of greatness in kickboxing by winning the Glory tournaments and clashing with the likes of Badr Hari spectacularly. He has long been linked with a move to a different combat discipline following sustained success in kickboxing. The combat presenter Ariel Helwani earlier suggested a three-fight deal with Francis Ngannou for an event series that would see the fighters compete one fight in kickboxing, one in boxing, and one in mixed martial arts.
Oleksandr Usyk is a former unified world heavyweight boxing champion and arguably remains the best pound-for-pound fighter. Usyk, who holds the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles, has not fought since stopping Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in July. He is returning to the ring for a crossover bout against the kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven, which is scheduled on May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
The former Glory champion highlighted his ongoing training with Peter Fury, trainer of Tyson Fury, and his long-standing boxing background, noting he has sparred with top boxers like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Additionally, he also has a professional boxing bout, a 2014 knockout victory over Janos Finfera, who had a winless record of 0-5. The elite kickboxer hasn’t been beaten for 11 years.
Verhoeven had multiple options before committing to boxing, one of which included a contract offer from UFC. The debut was proposed to come against fan favourite Derrick Lewis at UFC 324, which was the promotion’s first card on Paramount. When the offer was denied by Verhoeven, many fans assumed that the UFC might have lowballed him with a Contender Series-type contract (10k/10k). But Verehoeven revealed that he chose to fight with Usyk due to his prestige and financial upside.
Title Reinstated as Voluntary Defence
The WBC has taken a U-turn regarding their stance on the fight and revealed that the WBC world heavyweight title will now be on the line. Initially, the president of the World Boxing Council (WBC), Mauricio Sulaiman, stated that the WBC would fully support the clash, but claimed that it wouldn’t be for the WBC title. He said that “ we will create an unbelievable belt featuring the elements of the Pyramids of Egypt.”
However, the WBC agreed to Usyk as their heavyweight champion, with a voluntary defence. The organisation has reported that they have received a petition to sanction the Usyk vs Verhoeven fight as a voluntary defence.
The WBC confirmed that Usyk’s recent activities and willingness to fight the best, proven by his double wins against Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Daniel Dubois has influenced the decision to approve the fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven, as a voluntary defence.
