When it was announced this past Friday that Oleksandr Usyk will defend his WBC heavyweight title against kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza, the news came as a shock to many. Although Verhoeven was heavily linked to a Feb. 14 bout with Anthony Joshua, the shift to fighting boxing’s pound-for-pound No. 1 in Verhoeven’s second pro boxing match was unexpected.
Verhoeven detailed to Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Tuesday his journey from leaving GLORY Kickboxing this past November to landing a surprise fight with the unified heavyweight champ.
Advertisement
“I just wanted to do big stuff that hasn’t been done before,” Verhoeven said of his mindset after leaving GLORY. “So either make a crazy crossover to the UFC or a big crossover fight in boxing or whatever — I just wanted to see all options. So that’s where the decision came from. I think we did it all within GLORY.”
Verhoeven said he discussed a major boxing match for the first time when he was at one of the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury fights in Saudi Arabia in 2024 with world-renowned actor Jason Statham.
“My good friend Jason Statham was [at Usyk vs. Fury],” Verhoeven said. “So we were talking and he said, ‘Oh yeah, man, [boxing] is the place to be. This is where you got to be.’ He said, ‘Let’s do it.’ So I think he slowly introduced me there.
“It was about a year later, the [Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight this past September] was coming up, and I saw Jason was there, so I texted [him], ‘Yo bro, you at the fight? Have fun.’ He said he was crazy excited and couldn’t wait for it. So I said, ‘Yo, we talked about it. We should do something [in boxing].’ He said, ‘Yep, I’m going to bring it up.'”
Advertisement
Statham proposed the idea of a major boxing match involving Verhoeven to Saudi Arabian fight financier Turki Alalshikh, who was receptive to the idea and said there would be further communication with Verhoeven’s team.
“They said, ‘When you come in, you’re a champion, so you have to face somebody with a name. And you have to promise us you’re not going to disappoint. You’re not going to be out in one round,'” Verhoeven recalled. “I said, ‘What do you mean? I’ve been boxing for the last 15 years on the highest level. I got this.'”
Verhoeven was asked by Alalshikh’s team who he wanted to face in his first boxing match in 12 years — he knocked out Janos Finfera (then 0-5) in 2014 — and he informed them he’d be open to fighting anybody. With former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua needing a comeback fight of sorts after more than a year out of the ring, surgery and just a Jake Paul bout to his name since, Joshua was the name put forward.
Joshua vs. Verhoeven, however, did not take place due to the unfortunate events that occurred outside of the ring late last year.
Advertisement
“I finished [shooting a] movie at the beginning of December,” Verhoeven said. “Went straight into camp and worked out through the whole of December. I had already planned a training camp in Spain for the whole month of January because the fight [with Joshua] was going to be February 14. Then the accident happened.”
Joshua was involved in a fatal car crash in December that devastatingly took the lives of two of his closest friends, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele. The crash left “AJ” with physical and emotional injuries that ruled out a fight for him in 2026’s first quarter.
Advertisement
Verhoeven, however, continued to train and stay ready, in the hopes of eventually landing a big name.
“We got on the phone and heard the fight might happen, but ‘AJ’ needs some time to recover physically and mentally. Probably somewhere in March, we would hear more about it,” Verhoeven said. “OK, no worries. Totally understand and totally respect the situation. I was still in Spain. We came to the gym and my boxing trainer, Peter Fury [the uncle of Tyson Fury], said, ‘Hey, I was thinking — what about fighting Oleksandr Usyk?'”
Verhoeven was a fan of Fury’s suggestion and proposed the idea to Alalshikh’s team as an undisputed boxing champion vs. undisputed kickboxing champion type matchup.
“They said one thing: ‘I love it. Let’s do it.'”
Advertisement
Alalshikh’s team managed to finalize the bout for May 23, and to add more intrigue to the contest, it landed at the Pyramids of Giza, which is the only remaining of the seven ancient wonders of the world.
Verhoeven will enter the fight with Usyk as a sizable underdog, but he cautioned fans against ruling out his chances, explaining that he has been training in boxing with Peter Fury for 15 years and was even a sparring partner for Tyson Fury when Tyson used his uncle as a coach more than a decade ago.
Verhoeven told Uncrowned that he also had discussions with the UFC and had received an offer to fight Derrick Lewis on the first Paramount+ card, UFC 324. Verhoeven ultimately decided against it because the financial elements of the offer to face Joshua — and then Usyk — were substantially better.