Rico Verhoeven is just one day away from his world title showdown with heavyweight great Oleksandr Usyk.
The legendary kickboxer is set to challenge Usyk for the WBC world heavyweight title at the iconic Pyramids of Giza in Egypt tomorrow night, his first professional boxing bout in just over twelve years.
Verhoeven was victorious on his professional boxing debut, stopping Hungary’s Janos Finfera in the second round of their clash at the Boellenfalltor-Halle in Germany back in April of 2014.
Since then, the Dutchman has made his mark in the kickboxing world and is often regarded as being one of the greatest kickboxers of all time, although he is faced with arguably the toughest test of his entire combat sports career when he faces Usyk this weekend.
Speaking to Seconds Out, Verhoeven vows to defeat Usyk and ‘take his belt’ as well as admitting that he is ‘definitely’ open to facing two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua next.
“Most definitely, most definitely. So, I’m gonna get that belt and then from there we’re gonna continue on as the face of boxing.”
Verhoeven was linked with a showdown with Joshua towards the end of last year, but the bout was scrapped after the Brit was in a fatal car accident in Nigeria.
Joshua is set to make his long-awaited return to the ring on July 25 as he gears up to face the Albania’s Kristian Prenga at an unconfirmed venue in Riyadh, his first ring appearance since he knocked out Jake Paul last December.
