When Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven was plucked from fistic obscurity, the boxing world turned up its collective nose at the choice of Oleksandr Usyk’s next opponent.
It now turns out, according to the WBC title challenger, in a recent interview with DAZN, that when it came to picking a route into the lucrative noble art, he wasn’t even targeting the Ukrainian master and consensus number one at all.
Check out the video above where Verhoeven reveals that Anthony Joshua was his first choice. After AJ suffered a horrific car crash in Nigeria, the team naturally started to look elsewhere.
The question for Usyk is: if not Rico, then who? Options are indeed thin on the ground. Usyk originally fancied a crack at Deontay Wilder, who is clearly unable to pull the once fearsome trigger.
Plus, Wilder is now locked into a do-or-die showdown with Derek Chisora next month. I can understand this line of thinking from Usyk, as Wilder has been a key player in the heavyweight era.
Usyk has comprehensively defeated the other two (Joshua and Fury, twice each), so having Wilder on the record would look good in years to come, with raw statistics barely telling the tale of Deontay’s physical fall from glory.
Usyk has shown little interest in boxing Moses Itauma; he’s already beaten Daniel Dubois twice, so if Dubois defeats Fabio Wardley, there would be little appetite for a third showdown there.
Perhaps if Wardley wins, he could fight the Ipswich man, but despite Fabio’s immense improvements and relentless belief, he brings nothing to the table that Usyk has yet to encounter.
Now that Joseph Parker is out of the way (thanks to the aforementioned Wardley), that leaves Agit Kabayel. A dangerous body puncher who moves well, has a solid jab and can pack out a German arena. It’s a real high-risk, low-reward outing for Usyk, which is probably why he’s never been so fussed on accepting that route.
For now, AJ’s predicament and Turki’s delight at putting together crossover circus fights have led to Usyk vs. Rico in Egypt. The undeniable king of the division versus a man who has only ever had one pro fight and made his name in an entirely different discipline.
Like it or loathe it, we’re going to have to accept it.
About Steve…
Current existence: Boxing writer, eLearning educator.
Previous lives: Online editor at Boxing News Magazine. Author (8 books), podcaster (500+ eps), scriptwriter for Motivedia channel, newspaper journalist, copywriter & educator.
Contact: stevenwellings1982@gmail.com
