Rico Verhoeven stunned the boxing world with his recent performance against Oleksandr Usyk and has named a list of UK heavyweights he thinks he could now defeat.
Verhoeven is known as one of the longest-reigning champions the heavyweight kickboxing division has ever seen. However, in May he made the switch to high-level boxing against Usyk – one of the greatest to ever lace up the gloves in the eyes of many – and turned in a performance no one expected.
The Dutchman tucked his chin in and boxed well behind a solid jab, working at a great pace and largely disrupting the Ukrainian’s rhythm. He was up on one card after 10 rounds before Usyk caught up with him. Verhoeven survived a knockdown, but referee Mark Lyson stepped in to stop the fight controversially after another barrage on the ropes.
Speaking to talkSPORT Boxing, the world title challenger was asked if he thought he would beat any heavyweight boxer right now, including Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
“100%, that’s why I’m here. 100%. Of course, I was so close to beating Usyk, and they all got beaten twice by that guy.”
He was then asked if he would beat Moses Itauma.
“I haven’t seen him on the highest level, I’ve seen him on a decent level, fighting decent opponents, but I haven’t seen him at the highest level, so I am really curious to see what he does, if he’s gonna fight me, or fight another guy, let’s see how he performs when he fights a serious opponent.”
Amid the backlash around the early stoppage, Verhoeven has pushed hard for a rematch with Usyk and, for his impressive efforts in the fight, will be given a top ranking by the WBC.
