It was announced on Friday that Oleksandr Usyk will defend his WBC heavyweight title against kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, which shocked many. Although Verhoeven has been heavily linked to a Feb. 14 fight with Anthony Joshua, the move to fight boxing’s No. 1 fighter in Verhoeven’s second pro fight was unexpected.
Verhoeven went on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Tuesday to detail his journey from leaving GLORY Kickboxing last November to a surprise match with the unified heavyweight champion.
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“I just want to do something big that I haven’t done before,” Verhoeven said when talking about his mentality after leaving GLORY. “So either a crazy crossover to the UFC or a big crossover fight in boxing or whatever — I just wanted to look at all the options. So that’s where the decision came from. I think we did it all in glory.”
Verhoeven said the first time he discussed a major boxing match was during a 2024 event in Saudi Arabia with world-renowned actor Jason Statham watching Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury.
“My good friend Jason Statham is [at Usyk vs. Fury],” Verhoeven said. “So we were talking and he said, ‘Oh, yeah, man, [boxing] This is where you should go. This is where you have to go. He said, “Let’s just do this.” So I think he slowly introduced me there.
“About a year later, [Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight this past September] Almost there, I saw Jason there so I texted [him]’Yo bro, are you fighting? have fun. ‘He said he was very excited and couldn’t wait. So I said, ‘Yo, we talked about it. we should do something [in boxing].’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to bring it up. ‘”
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Statham proposed the idea of ​​Verhoeven competing in a major boxing match to Saudi Arabian boxing financier Turki Al-Arasheh, who accepted the idea and said he would communicate further with Verhoeven’s team.
“They said, ‘When you come in, you’re the champion, so you have to face someone with a name. You have to promise us that you’re not going to disappoint. You’re not going to be out in one round,'” Verhoeven recalled. “I said, ‘What do you mean? I’ve been boxing at the highest level for the last 15 years. I get it.'”
Alalshikh’s team asked Verhoeven who he wanted to face in his first boxing match in 12 years – he defeated Janos Finfera (0-5 at the time) in 2014 – and he told them he was willing to fight anyone. Joshua’s name was brought up after former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua needed some sort of comeback fight after being out of the ring for over a year, undergoing surgery and only having one fight with Jake Paul since then.
However, Joshua vs. Verhoeven did not take place due to an unfortunate incident outside the ring late last year.
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“I’m done [shooting a] Early December film,” Verhoeven said. “Going straight into training camp and working out all December. I’ve already planned a training camp in Spain in January because of the competition [with Joshua] It was supposed to be February 14th, and then something unexpected happened. “
Joshua was involved in a fatal car accident in December that claimed the lives of two of his closest friends, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele. The accident left “AJ” with physical and mental injuries that will prevent him from participating in the first quarter of 2026.
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However, Verhoeven continued to train and prepare in hopes of eventually earning a big name.
“We got the call and heard the fight could happen, but ‘AJ’ needs some time to recover physically and mentally. Probably sometime in March we’ll hear more about that,” Verhoeven said. “Well, don’t worry. Totally understand and totally respect the situation. I was still in Spain. We came to the gym and my boxing coach Peter Fury [the uncle of Tyson Fury]saying, ‘Hey, I was wondering – how about fighting Alexander Usyk? ‘”
Verhoeven liked Fury’s suggestion and pitched the idea to Alash’s team as an undisputed boxing champion vs. undisputed kickboxing champion type of showdown.
“They said one thing: ‘I love it. Let’s do it.'”
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Arasheh’s team successfully completed the race on May 23 and added more spice to the competition by landing on the Giza Pyramids, the only remaining of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World.
Verhoeven will enter the fight against Usyk as a fairly weak opponent, but he warned fans not to rule him out, explaining that he has been training boxing with Peter Fury for 15 years and was even Tyson Fury’s sparring partner when Tyson made his uncle his coach more than a decade ago.
Verhoeven told Uncrowned that he has also been in discussions with the UFC and received an invitation to fight Derrick Lewis on the first Paramount+ card, UFC 324. Verhoeven ultimately decided against it because the financial factors were much better with an offer from Joshua (and then Usyk).
