Rico Verhoeven, the kickboxing world champion who stepped into the boxing ring against undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in front of the pyramids in Egypt, sat down on The Three Knockdown Rule podcast where he explained how Usyk became his opponent after plans to face Anthony Joshua fell apart.
Verhoeven revealed that the opportunity to face Usyk came together in an unexpected way, beginning with a conversation with Hollywood star Jason Statham during the Canelo vs. Crawford week in Las Vegas.
“I just vacated my kickboxing belt, so I’m open. Maybe we should do something,” Verhoeven recalled telling Statham.
The actor then brought his name to His Excellency Turki Al-Sheikh. A few hours later, Verhoeven received the call that changed everything.
“Sunday morning, that means Saturday night Las Vegas time, he texted me,” he said. “I’m on the treadmill, I’m running. Jason calling. Yo bro, you had the match.”
According to Verhoeven, the initial plan was a showdown with Anthony Joshua. However, after Joshua’s accident prevented that match from materializing, he began searching for another high-profile opponent.
He stated, “Three days later, they reached out. They said like, ‘Yo, we want you to compete. We know you’re a champion in kickboxing, so we need you versus the big guy, big name. What do you think about Anthony Joshua?” I said, “Let’s go.” Okay, we got it done.”
He continued, “Then Joshua had the Jake Paul match. First it was going to be in February, then they postponed it to the end of March. And then unfortunately the horrific accident happened at the end of the year. So that whole matchup got derailed.”
Already in training camp in Spain after completing filming for Road House 2, he suggested a matchup with Usyk.
“We started talking and debating and discussing. What about Usyk?” he said. “Undisputed versus undisputed. There’s a story there.”
When he proposed the idea, the silence on the other end of the line left him wondering if he had gone too far.
“I was like, oh my God,” Verhoeven recalled. “And then they said, we love it.”
