Rico Verhoeven says he is bringing an approach to boxing that Oleksandr Usyk has never faced, as the kickboxing great prepares to challenge the undisputed heavyweight champion Saturday at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
Verhoeven spoke at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference, framing his lack of traditional boxing experience as a potential asset.
“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. Like you said, it’s God’s will, so let’s see on Saturday. Let the best man win.”
He also addressed the late-career transition from kickboxing to 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. I think we did quite a good job, and I’m going to showcase that to the world on Saturday.”
Matchroom Boxing CEO Eddie Hearn acknowledged the gap in class while refusing to fully rule out an upset.
“The fight on paper is an impossible mountain to climb for Rico Verhoeven. No, I’ll re-phrase that: for the normal man. Oleksandr Usyk is one of the greatest not just fighters of our generation, but greatest examples to any young fighter, to any young athlete in terms of the work ethic and the mindset. Tomorrow night, this guy, this giant of a man whose arms are like the normal man’s thighs, has an opportunity to forge one of the greatest upsets in the history of boxing. He’s coming in not just to fight the best in the division; he’s coming in to fight the pound-for-pound No. 1. But I’ll tell you what: If there was ever anything dramatic, ever anything strange to happen, it’s going to happen at the foot of the Pyramids in Egypt.”
Usyk is listed as a minus-5000 favorite. Verhoeven has one professional boxing bout on his record — a 2014 second-round knockout of Janos Finfera.