Rico Verhoeven Has an ‘Impossible Mountain to Climb’, Says Eddie Hearn

Rico Verhoeven (1-0, 1 KOs) and Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) are all set to fight it out among the pyramids in Giza, Egypt. But promoter, Eddie Hearn, has a warning for the former: be ready to conquer an “impossible mountain”.

Talking at their recent presser, the Matchroom boss admitted that Verhoeven has a gargantuan task ahead of him.

“The fight on paper is an impossible mountain to climb for Rico Verhoeven. No, I’ll re-phrase that: for the normal man. But the reason that he’s accomplished what he’s accomplished and the reason he’s done what he’s done is because he’s not a normal man,” he said.

Verhoeven is coming from being arguably the most dominant heavyweight kickboxer of the modern era. What’s wild is that in boxing, he can basically be considered a novice. He only had one pro boxing match before this Usyk fight, a second-round KO back in 2014. So, he’s not coming from boxing rankings or contender status at all.

Meanwhile, there has been a surprising turn of events at Usyk’s camp. Anthony Joshua has been in Usyk’s training camp recently, which is one of the strangest heavyweight storylines right now, considering Usyk beat him twice. AJ has been training alongside Usyk and members of his team in Spain, Ukraine, and other camps ahead of his comeback and eventual Tyson Fury fight. In fact, according to Usyk, they went from rivals to friends.

Hearn was all praise for Usyk and his team for allowing AJ to be a part of their camp.

“Oleksandr Usyk is one of the greatest not just fighters of our generation, but greatest examples to any young fighter, to any young athlete in terms of the work ethic and the mindset. I thank Usyk and his team for allowing AJ into that camp because what I’ve seen up close is the reason that he’s undefeated, the reason he’s still top of the game,” he said.

“One of The Greatest Upsets”

Hearn, however, believes that Verhoeven has what it takes to rewrite boxing history with what he calls “one of the greatest upsets” in boxing history.

“Tomorrow night, this guy (Verhoeven), this giant of a man whose arms are like the normal man’s thighs, has an opportunity to, let’s be honest, forge one of the greatest upsets in the history of boxing. It might not be to him, but it will be on paper if he was to do it. He’s coming in not just to fight the best in the division; he’s coming in to fight the pound-for-pound No. 1,” he said.

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is a 2x award-winning writer, International Boxing Hall of Fame voter, founder and publisher of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms, including online, network TV, and promotional companies. He is an alumnus of an American Public University and a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, and contributed to The Ring Magazine, FanSidedMMA, and ProBoxTV.

See author's posts