Rico Verhoeven, former Glory heavyweight champion, shared how the idea of a fight with multiple champion Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the WBC, WBA, IBO, and IBF titles, came about.
On May 23 in Egypt, as part of the main event of the boxing evening The Ring: Glory in Giza, they will meet for the WBC heavyweight title.
“At first, we planned a fight with Anthony Joshua, but his matchup was postponed due to the tragedy involving his friends who died in a car accident,” Verhoeven noted.
“My coach Peter Fury suggested, ‘Why not meet with Usyk?’ I found this idea interesting, but I doubted if it would suit him. We got in touch with Usyk’s team, and everything started to come together. In the end, I learned that Alexander was ready and interested,” Verhoeven was quoted by DAZN.
Usyk last stepped into the ring in July 2025, where he scored a knockout victory over Daniel Dubois in the fifth round. He has 24 wins (15 by knockout) and no losses.
As for Verhoeven, he fought his last match in June 2025 at Glory 100, where he won against Artem Vakhitov by unanimous decision. His kickboxing record includes 66 wins (21 by knockout) and 10 losses.
The post Verhoeven: Fury suggested the idea of a fight with Usyk first appeared on K-News.
