1/2 Rico Verhoeven is again world champion. (Photo: Glory, Alexis Goudeau)
Rico Verhoeven has successfully defended his world title. The Kickboxer Brabant was too strong on Saturday evening in Rotterdam Ahoy for the RUS Artem Vakhitov. After five rounds, Verhoeven was unanimously designated as the winner by the jury.
Who can stop Rico Verhoeven? The 36-year-old Brabander has been the best kick boxer in the world since 2014 and won twelve world title fights in a row until today. With Artem Vakhitov (34), the former world champion at the light heavy weights faced him on Saturday evening. In recent years, the Russian has focused on Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), but for the fight with Verhoeven he returned to kickboxing.
The fight would be a chess game, as Verhoeven had already predicted beforehand. It was therefore not a spectacle piece. From a packed Rotterdam Ahoy there was even a careful bow -in in the second round. In the third round the whistling became louder and louder and even quite a few people who wanted to stay ahead of the crowds.
The last two rounds looked like the first three in which the fighters were especially careful and did not go full for the win. After five rounds, the jury designated Rico Verhoeven as the winner. “I am so happy with this win,” he said from the ring. “What a fight against Artem, he will certainly be the new world champion in the future.”
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