Eddie Hearn has told Oleksandr Usyk what fight he thinks he should take next
Hearn has occasionally worked with Usyk throughout his time as a professional boxer, but in recent fights, Usyk has had his own close team around him. It was they who negotiated the showdown with celebrated kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven back in May.
Many expected it to be a walkover for Usyk, who is a former undisputed cruiserweight champion turned two-time undisputed heavyweight. However, Verhoeven boxed well from the off, with tight defences and good footwork allowing him to get off some shots of his own.
It wasn’t until the later rounds that Usyk began to really connect and the referee stepped in late into the 11th round to stop the fight. Although his team have said the stoppage was well timed, many fans think it was far too early.
Speaking to Ring Magazine, Hearn suggested there is only one fight that makes sense for Usyk to take next.
“It’s the most obvious decision to make and it’s the rematch with Rico Verhoeven in Amsterdam. You really have been given a gift.
“It’s a little bit like the gift we were given of Francis Ngannou, and by the way, ‘AJ ‘had to go and do that to him, but Fury made Ngannou look like a world-class heavyweight, which gave us the reason to fight Francis Ngannou that gave us the massive payday and ‘AJ’ demolished him.
“I think in the rematch, Usyk does a much cleaner job of beating Rico Verhoeven, and to me, commercially it’s a much bigger fight than fighting Agit Kabayal.”
Kabayal is the interim WBC champion and has been since 2025 so he would disagree as he is keen to get his shot. However, Usyk may well feel he needs to clean up the blemish on his record and rematch Verhoeven in order to put all doubts about the early stoppage to bed.
