Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven shared his thoughts on the upcoming fight with Oleksandr Usyk, which the World Boxing Council (WBC) officially sanctioned as a voluntary title defense by the Ukrainian champion.
According to Verhoeven, initially, the organization representatives contacted him without specifics. "At first, they just said: we are planning an interesting fight, details later — whether it will be a title fight or not. I replied: great, I am ready to go against Usyk in any format," Rico said.
Later, the situation clarified: the WBC title will be at stake. Rico noted that such a decision was made possible due to his status in the world of striking martial arts. "They follow their criteria when evaluating opponents. Apparently, my reputation and achievements in kickboxing played a key role," he explained.
Verhoeven emphasized that he fully accepts the logic of the WBC, although times are changing and the boundaries between disciplines are blurring. "These are their rules and their sport, I understand everything. But now is a different era — everything is evolving rapidly. Take the Ngannou vs. Fury fight, for example: then the whole world was talking about it," the kickboxer added.
The fight between Usyk and Verhoeven will take place on May 23 at the pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
