Rico Verhoeven Closes Chapter of Life Ahead of His ‘Biggest Challenge’

Saturday night will see Rico Verhoeven (1-0, 1 KO) fight it out for Oleksandr Usyk’s (24-0, 15 KOs) WBC title in Giza, Egypt. While an opportunity to win a title in his second professional fight is impressive, the journey also had its set of closures, including an adieu to his illustrious kickboxing career.

Speaking to Ade Oladipo for DAZN, Verhoeven opened up about closing the book on the sport that made him a household name.

“Kickboxing is a closed chapter in my life. I’m not looking too much past Oleksandr Usyk,” he said. “This is the biggest challenge.”

Verhoeven is coming off a decade as the king of heavyweight kickboxing, ruling GLORY heavyweight from 2013 until his retirement from kickboxing last year, with a reported 66-10 record. He was last seen in June 2025 when he defeated Artem Vakhitov via decision.

What makes this upcoming showdown interesting is the fact that Rico isn’t just some random celebrity fighter. He’s enormous, insanely conditioned, used to five-round wars with elite strikers, and has sparred high-level boxers for years. But boxing fans are still treating him as a gigantic underdog because Usyk is arguably the most technically complete heavyweight boxer alive. In fact, Verhoeven only had one pro boxing match before this, way back in 2014.

While he has been linked to other major names, including Anthony Joshua, Verhoeven believes that his fight against Usyk makes the most sense.

“For me to be honest, it makes sense. The other fights also made sense because they were also considered to be big crossover events. We have Oleksandr Usyk, who has been dominating the sport for such a long time, from cruiserweight, now at heavyweight. He’s beating not once, but twice,” he said. “Undisputed vs. undisputed, two different worlds colliding, wow, it’s a crazy movie script.”

“Not Going To See An Upset”

Teddy Atlas, on the other hand, seems to already know who is going to emerge victorious on fight night. Talking on THE FIGHT w/ Teddy Atlas, the legendary trainer, urged fans not to take a flier on seeing one of boxing’s biggest Titans fall.

“We’re not going to see an upset. Verhoeven is a legendary kickboxer, but he’s had one pro boxing fight that he won against a handpicked guy, so he’s 1-0. He’s not going to be 2-0,” he said. “You don’t take anyone for granted, but he doesn’t figure to have any chance against Usyk.”

Joshua Ben Joseph

Joshua Ben Joseph is a Boxing writer renowned for his unparalleled coverage of live events and insightful interviews with prominent athletes in the world of combat sports. With a career spanning over several years, he has authored more than 800 articles. As an experienced editorial cartoonist and investigative journalist, Joshua has a keen eye for detail and a passion for delivering quality content. Aside from his writing, Joshua is an avid powerlifter and solo traveler, embodying the same spirit of determination and exploration that he brings to his work. With a deep love for the sport of boxing that dates back to childhood, he is committed to delivering the highest quality content and helping to build a more transparent and credible industry.

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