Oleksandr Usyk’s surprise showdown with kickboxing great Rico Verhoeven WILL be for the WBC world heavyweight title after all.
The now 39-year-old Ukrainian genius will put the hallowed green and gold strap on the line when he matches up with Dutch superstar Verhoeven (now 36 years old) in a blockbusting crossover affair in Giza, Egypt on May 23.
It’s something of a surprise for the unbeaten Usyk (24-0 with 15 wins inside distance), but there are few challenges left for him in the heavyweight division.
After becoming undisputed cruiserweight champion, Usyk has achieved that lofty feat twice at heavyweight and en route has defeated both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua twice.
Usyk had been strongly linked with a showdown vs fading American force Deontay Wilder next, but the lure of a crossover affair against the popular Verhoeven appears to be too strong. Verhoeven had been previously linked with a February match vs Joshua, before AJ was injured in that tragic car accident which killed two of his closest team members in Nigeria in December.
Despite the fact that Verhoeven has just one sanctioned boxing match on his career record – a KO win over Janos Finfera in Darmstadt way back in 2014 – the WBC has agreed that its title can be on the line for this one.
WBC confirms Usyk vs Verhoeven ruling
In a statement, the WBC confirmed: “After careful consideration, the WBC Board of Governors has ruled in favor of sanctioning WBC World Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk’s voluntary title defense against legendary kickboxing Champion Rico Verhoeven.
“At its 63rd Annual Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, the WBC granted Champion Usyk a voluntary defense. Subsequently, the WBC received a petition to sanction the Usyk v. Herhoeven fight as a voluntary defense.
“Champion Usyk has showcased incredible activity in recent years, facing and defeating champions in his division like Anthony Joshua twice, Tyson Fury twice, and Daniel Dubois twice. He did all of that while maintaining his undefeated record. In reaching its approval decision, the WBC Board of Governors considered Champion Usyk’s activity, which is unprecedented, especially in the heavyweight division.
“Rico has been competing professionally at an elite kickboxing level since 2005. Over the course of two decades while maintaining that very highest level of competition, he has established himself as arguably one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxing champions of all time.
“Rico’s professional journey has been exceptional, which includes headlining and selling out major stadium arenas in front of 30,000 and 40,000 spectators worldwide. At 36 years of age, he competed in 76 professional kickboxing fights. Rico just recently vacated the Glory Kickboxing Heavyweight title going undefeated in 11 years.
“The transition from kickboxing to boxing is not unprecedented. Many MuayThai athletes have successfully crossed over into professional boxing and competed for WBC titles early in their boxing careers. This WBC decision is within the WBC rules and regulations.”
TV details and latest odds
Usyk vs Verhoeven will stream live on DAZN, and the Ukrainian is not surprisingly a very heavy favourite. Oleksandr is currently trading at 1/20 with Verhoeven a 14/1 chance and the Draw quoted at 33/1.
