Kickboxing legend names the heavyweight he wouldn’t like to face.
It has been almost a full week since Rico Verhoeven fought Oleksandr Usyk. In that space of time, speculation behind why Usyk had such a difficult time against the career kickboxer has only grown.
Perhaps it was his weight–he did, in fact, weigh the exact same as Daniel Dubois did in their first fight–perhaps he didn’t train as well as he usually does, or perhaps he simply got old overnight.
Perhaps it was all of those things at once.
But perhaps those potential explanations aren’t giving Verhoeven the credit he deserves. Indeed, for the majority of the fight, the Dutchman was flying. And following his incredible performance, many fans have been calling to see him in the ring again.
His next appearance likely won’t be a rematch with Usyk. However, that is definitely on the table if Usyk gets through an expected fight with Agit Kabayel, his WBC mandatory.
And in the absence of an immediate second go at the Ukrainian, there are several people Verhoeven could face, especially given the recent news that he is set to receive a world ranking.
Speaking to BoxingScene, Verhoeven stated, “I would like to stay busy. Whatever the big names are out there, I’m ready. Whatever. Whatever event we have, whatever show we’re gonna do, let’s go.”
The combat sports great stated his willingness to fight Anthony Joshua, Daniel Dubois, Moses Itauma, and Francis Ngannou. However, he drew the line at a fight with Tyson Fury.
“I would fight him, but I don’t think that would make too much sense with my relationship with Peter [Fury, Tyson’s uncle and Verhoeven’s trainer]. But if that fight was presented to me, it is what it is”, said Verhoeven.
Fury has sparred many rounds with Verhoeven throughout the years, so the two are very familiar with each other. As for whether they will meet in the professional sense, it looks unlikely right now.
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