Verhoeven in line for surprise second title shot.
When his fight with Oleksandr Usyk was announced, many boxing fans were hearing of Rico Verhoeven for the very first time. Though an absolute legend in his sport of kickboxing, the Dutchman was simply not a pugilist.
But following his fight with Usyk, every boxing fan in the know knew his name. Why? Because Verhoeven very nearly beat the unified heavyweight champion in only his second professional boxing match.
That is certainly the type of thing that will get people speaking your name. And despite officially losing, Verhoeven seriously benefitted from his strong performance in May.
In fact, his showing not only earned him a ton of respect, but a world ranking with both the WBC and WBA. Such a thing is almost unheard-of, especially when it comes to a fighter whose record shows that he came up short.
Following Usyk’s decision to vacate his unified titles recently, it appears a rematch with Verhoeven is far from his mind, with a bout against Deontay Wilder the frontrunner for his final appearance.
One man who gained in Usyk’s relinquishing is Agit Kabayel, who was rewarded with the WBC championship. And when it comes to who his first defence of the title could be against, it appears Verhoeven exists as a surprising option.
Speaking to Playbook Boxing, Spencer Brown spoke of Kabayel’s potential next opponent, at one point saying, “And there’s another one we should look at: Rico [Verhoeven] … Holland’s very close to Germany. [It] is an hour away. He’ll bring a massive support, and I think that would fill 50,000 in Germany.”
Should this take place, it would be a testament to just how good Rico Verhoeven’s performance was, and it would prove once and for all just how skilled he really is a boxer.
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