Rico Verhoeven on how Anthony Joshua ‘tragedy’ set up shock Oleksandr Usyk fight

Rico Verhoeven has opened up on how the “tragedy” of Anthony Joshua’s car crash set up his unexpected title shot against Oleksandr Usyk.

Late last year, kickboxing icon Verhoeven was linked to a 2026 boxing match with Joshua, but 10 days after “AJ” knocked out YouTuber Jake Paul, the Briton was injured in a fatal car crash.

That accident in Nigeria claimed the lives of two of Joshua’s teammates, leaving the former world heavyweight champion’s boxing future up in the air. And while Joshua has since returned to the gym, it wasn’t long before Verhoeven agreed to a different fight.

Rico Verhoeven is an icon of modern kickboxing (PA)

That fight, remarkably, will take place at the pyramids of Giza on 23 May, as the Dutchman challenges Usyk for the WBC heavyweight title.

Tuesday brought a press conference between Usyk, 39, and Verhoeven, 36, in London, where the latter spoke to The Independent and other publications.

“The [Joshua] fight was... it was gonna happen,” Verhoeven insisted. “The fight was there, only the tragic accident happened, so that’s what derailed everything.

“And logically, yeah, AJ needed some time to just resettle, get back to himself, and that was that.

“We didn’t have like... a straight new opponent, so from there on, we talked about with the team: ‘Who’s out there? ‘I said: ‘What about Usyk? Like, that makes sense. Undisputed [in kickboxing] versus undisputed [in boxing].’ So, that’s what happened.

“Why do I deserve it? I don’t think it’s up to me to think if I deserve something. I think for me, I put it out there, like: ‘How cool would it be if those two worlds collide?’ The promoter was like, ‘That’s a great idea. We love that.’ And then they put the belt up for the fight. I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s even better.’

“I understand that for the people that are not into the kickboxing game, they do not know my credentials, but the WBC, they also have like a Muay Thai kickboxing department. So for them, it did make sense. Like, ‘Hey, he’s one of the greatest, if not the greatest kickboxer of all time. So, he has his credentials, so a real title shot makes sense.’”

(Getty)

For the fight in Egypt, Verhoeven has been training with his longtime boxing coach Peter Fury – uncle of British boxing star Tyson Fury – and the Dutchman said of his preparations: “Well, the cool thing is, something that’s not broken, you don’t have to fix. He gave me the fundamentals, and working with Peter [made me] such a dominant [champion] in kickboxing.”

Recalling past sparring sessions with Tyson Fury, Verhoeven said: “It’s been a long time, but I learned a lot from that, [to] keep working, working, working, working, working, working, beating up the cracks. That’s the only thing, that’s how you get better.”

At the press conference itself, Verhoeven claimed that Hollywood actor Jason Statham – an acquaintance of Saudi boxing matchmaker Turki Alalshikh – was “one of the people who initiated this opportunity”.

Meanwhile, Peter Fury said Verhoeven “was offered a lot more money in other sports” before taking the Usyk fight.

Ukraine’s Usyk said of his decision to take a voluntary title defence against Verhoeven: “One time, I wanna do what I want, not what’s needed, because a lot of the time, I do what other people need. ‘You have to box like this.’ I say: ‘Ok, ok, ok.’ Now, I do what I need.”