Rico Verhoeven, the heavyweight who pushed Oleksandr Usyk into the trenches on Saturday night in Egypt, will remain in boxing and wants to stay active.
The Dutchman, now 1-1 (1 KOs) as a professional boxer, gave Usyk a terrific fight and was level on two scorecards and ahead on the third at the time of the stoppage, which came with a second left in the 11th round.
Today, Verhoeven has done the media rounds and while he knows he lost, he believes he is a moral victor.
“A hundred per cent,” he told BoxingScene. “The uncrowned king.”
Despite facing the formidable Ukrainian in front of the pyramids, he said there was nothing that Usyk did that surprised him, though he praised the heavyweight champion’s elusiveness.
Asked if he could have any trait the undefeated Usyk possessed, he said: “To be so hard to hit. He’s hard to hit, man. At least he’s hard to hit clean. That’s how they look at me [in kickboxing]. They say, ‘You’re hard to hit, man.’
While many were stunned how Verhoeven set up to fight Usyk, negating his size and reach advantage to stay in harm’s way, he said it was the only way he could have fought the bout.
“I knew I had to,” he added. “It was the only way to do it. Come on. Let’s please stay in reality. So me coming into boxing, thinking I’m going to outbox pound for pound the best boxer at least from this era, that doesn’t make any sense.”
Did he feel any different in the latter stages of a championship boxing match to kickboxing?
“Totally the same. Good shot, went down, got up. I was still there,” he said.
“I was pushing it so much the whole time, I was totally feeling it and with the scorecards being so tight I felt if he lands one, I have to land three, it’s going to be a hard night to catch up.”
Verhoeven said he should have been allowed to go into the 12th round and has made it clear he wants the great southpaw again.
“I’m super excited just to compete at the highest level,” he said.
“Is Usyk the number one target?”
“Yeah, that’s the fight I’m looking for. I know there’s a lot of stuff going on in and around boxing, so it might not happen straight away. But let’s see.”
Usyk, of course, has a duty to defend his WBC title against Agit Kabayel next. But Verhoeven has entered the chat as a very viable option.
Regardless, he will not sit around and wait for the Ukrainian.
“I would like to stay busy,” he said. “Whatever the big names are out there, I’m ready. Whatever. Whatever event we have. Whatever show we’re gonna do. Let’s go.”
Today, the names of Daniel Dubois, Francis Ngannou, Anthony Joshua and Moses Itauma were put to him and he’s open to facing any of them.
Only Tyson Fury, with whom he’s sparred plenty over the years, would present an obstacle.
“I would fight him but I don’t think that would make too much sense with my relationship with [Tyson’s uncle] Peter [who trains Verhoeven], but if that fight was presented to me, it is what it is.”
Despite everything that transpired in Egypt, Verhoeven has no regrets about leaving it so late to land a big professional boxing assignment.
“No, everything happens for a reason,” said the 37-year-old. “I was always of the belief that everything happens for a reason.”
