Former kickboxing world champion Rico Verhoeven will return to the ring on Saturday evening for a boxing match. The opponent is Oleksandr Usyk, world heavyweight champion. In the idyllic setting at the foot of the Giza pyramid in Egypt, Verhoeven is not allowed to use his feet. What chance does he have against the undefeated Ukrainian?
Verhoeven has been meticulously preparing for his boxing match against Usyk in recent months. That name has knocked boxing greats such as Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to the canvas in the past.
“It was a challenge last year to turn myself into a boxer. But I think we did a good job. I don’t box like a real boxer and I am unpredictable. That’s where my opportunities lie,” Verhoeven, from Halsteren, said on Thursday.
He believes that there are opportunities for Verhoeven. But what are those chances? Boxing sensation Gradus Kraus from Oss sees opportunities for Verhoeven, although they are small.
“Rico has already had a lot of boxing training. He has been boxing for several years as a training for kickboxing with trainer Peter Fury (the uncle of boxing great Tyson Fury, ed.). But boxing is just a completely different game,” says Kraus at the NOS.
“Then it is almost impossible to become world champion in boxing.”
“It’s much more technical than kickboxing. It’s more like chess,” says Kraus. “While kickboxing is more ‘old school’ ramming and fighting. Boxers do many more things consciously and really set up combinations. While kickboxers step forward and punch without thinking.”
A kickboxer should not actually beat a boxer in his sport, Kraus issues a profit warning. “If you have always been a kickboxer, then it is almost impossible to become a world champion in boxing.”
Arnold Vanderlyde is one of the Netherlands’ most famous boxers, good for three Olympic boxing medals. He was shocked when he first heard of Verhoeven’s intention to switch to boxing. But now, on the eve of the Verhoeven-Usyk match, he likes it.
“Rico has been training in boxing for years to become a better kickboxer, but it will be an incredible challenge for him,” Vanderlyde said at WNL. “In the beginning I found it difficult to see him make the transition. But now that I have analyzed it and I see what he does for it, Rico should get that chance.”
“He can take a beating too.”
If Verhoeven wins, he will be the first Dutch heavyweight world boxing champion. Vanderlyde would love it. “Although he can also take a beating. But he is so trained, physically, mentally and emotionally, that he can handle that. He is big, he is strong. That will be fine, you will get over it. He has a chance, but for me the favorite is Usyk.”
Betting companies also massively appoint Usyk as the favorite for the match. For example, if you bet one euro on Usyk at Toto or Bet365, you will only get 1.06 in return. Verhoeven’s winnings immediately earn you 9 euros when you bet the same amount.
The match can be followed on Saturday evening via streaming service DAZN. The first matches start at eight o’clock, but Verhoeven is not expected to enter the ring before ten o’clock in the evening.
