(Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
While the boxing world scoffs at the notion that Rico Verhoeven has a semblance of a chance against Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday, one man has issued a write Rico off at your peril warning.
Dutchman Verhoeven, of course, is a kickboxing great but he has only his second professional boxing fight against the best heavyweight in the world in Egypt.
However, former MMA and kickboxing star Alistair Overeem believes Verhoeven should not be dismissed before the first bell.
He knows boxing fans would have rather seen Usyk face a top contender, like Agit Kabayel, but contends the show business element of the sport needs to be served.
“I think, even though I understand them [boxing fans], we should not forget it’s also an entertainment sport,” Overeem told BoxingScene.
“We shouldn’t forget fan sport. Or even though there’s some people that are not too happy about it, that there’s some rankings being skipped. I do think that this is going to be a great fight.
“There is a story here. It’s undisputed [boxing] versus undisputed [kickboxing]. Rico is somebody who does have the wins, does have the kilograms [size advantage], does have the attitude.
“He has been training with Peter Fury, so it’s not like an absolute walkover. It is a real fight. And I love the fact that Rico’s taking the risk, right? He’s taking the chance. Greatness is there. And if you never take the chance… He is taking a chance, a huge chance.”
What kind of start to the fight does Overeem anticipate from the start?
“He needs to be ready to go [through the gears] at any moment, because he does have the weight,” said Overeem. “So he’s able to dictate.
“But then again, you shouldn’t overcommit because if you overcommit too much, Usyk will catch on, right? So it will be all about patterns, changing the patterns. To me, as a fight fan, it’s very interesting to see those micro-adjustments. Again, I think Usyk is going to be the master in that.”
The one thing Overeem does concede however, is that Usyk has no margin for error. Given the expectation that the Ukrainian will walk it, Overeem said: “It has to be a perfect performance otherwise there’s going to be criticism… But then on the other hand, Rico also has pressure. Rico can lose, but it needs to be a good performance. He can’t just go in there and just get beat up. And that is a little bit where the pressure lies by both. One needs a perfect…
2026-05-21 00:00:00
