2026-06-01 10:47:59
Rico Verhoeven is confident that he can beat Oleksandr Usyk in a rematch.
The kickboxing legend gave an excellent account of himself in his heavyweight world title bout against Usyk last month – only being stopped in controversial circumstances with just a second remaining of round 11 – and is confident that he can topple the undefeated Ukrainian if the pair do fight again.
Verhoeven told Sky Sports: “I like to believe there is a world where maybe he wasn’t at his best, I was doing really well, and those two things came together to make the fight look the way it did.
“I definitely hurt him in different spots, especially to the body. Not hurt to the point where I was close to getting him out of there, but the next day, he will have felt that.
“This is just me opening the toolbox. I only showed a few tools. There are multiple ways we can fight Usyk. The next one, again, is going to be a surprise.”
Usyk has been ordered to face mandatory WBC world title challenger Agit Kabayel and Verhoeven is in the dark in terms of what happens next.
The kickboxer said: “I have no clue. It’s not up to me. Let’s see where his mind is at.”
Even if the Usyk rematch doesn’t happen, Verhoeven is hopeful that he can have big fights in the world of boxing.
The Dutch fighter said: “I’m open to seeing what opportunities become available because I’ve been reached out to by the whole world. It’s been crazy. Let’s see what next steps make sense.
“I just want to make the biggest fights – big fights at crazy locations. We draw a bunch of viewers. They’ve seen what we’re capable of, and they see I’m one of the top box-office stars.
“It’s not up to me who I fight next. It’s up to the organisation. Who do they want to see me against? I’ll be ready to fight anybody – anybody.”
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