Sky Sports has unearthed never-before-seen footage of Rico Verhoeven, Oleksandr Usyk’s shock opponent for his next title fight, sparring with Tyson Fury, who was then about to begin his own world championship reign.
Fury has brought in star kickboxer Verhoeven in preparation for the most important fight of his career. The Morecambe heavyweight was in camp ahead of his 2015 fight with Wladimir Klitschko.
The bout marked Fury’s first world title challenge against the man who had dominated the division for a decade and held the combined WBO, WBA and IBF titles. With this win, Fury will be named the best heavyweight in the sport.
At the time, Verhoeven was already the best heavyweight kickboxer on the planet, and his championship reign with Glory Promotions was to last even longer.
He only relinquished his kickboxing belt last year, but will now be an unlikely opponent for Usyk, the Ukrainian who will take over as unified heavyweight world champion and face Verhoeven for the WBC belt.
This will be Verhoeven’s second boxing match, but his first in 12 years, and the first time he will actually fight a boxer who has won professional matches.
And in Usyk, he’s not only fighting a journeyman heavyweight, he’s taking on the exact opposite. Usyk is the ultimate winner of this sport. He won European, World and Olympic gold medals as an amateur. As a professional, he won the undisputed world championship at cruiserweight and twice at heavyweight. He has never lost a professional fight.
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Muay Thai fighter Liam Harrison believes no one can beat Oleksandr Usyk in boxing, and kickboxer Rico Verhoeven is looking ahead to his next fight.
So it would be useful to know how Verhoeven fared in the ring against Fury, Usyk’s closest rival.
In the past, Verhoeven trained regularly with Tyson Fury and with coach Peter Fury, Tyson’s uncle, who trained him for the Klitschko victory in Bolton.
Sky Sports footage shows Fury just starting training camp and finding his way into sparring.
Verhoeven sparred with both Tyson and Hughie Fury, and while they were completely different fighters than Usyk, they would have given Verhoeven good experience with boxing footwork and jabs, important elements for kickboxers looking to move into the “sweet science.”
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Tyson Fury, who lost his first two fights, believes heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk will “beg” him for a trilogy fight before the end of this year.
Peter Fury has known Verhoeven for many years and plans to train him for the fight with Usyk. He said at the time, “Every time he comes in and helps us spar, we just give him a little bit of technical stuff and boxing skills.Rico and guys like him are fun to work with because they’re disciplined, they’re real fighting guys, they have a lot of heart and they’re not weak in any way, shape or form.
“He’ll push himself to the limit. That’s what you want in a fighter, he doesn’t want any excuses. That’s why he’s where he is and that’s what it takes.”
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Back in 2015, Rico Verhoeven shares his thoughts on Peter Fury and the influence he had on his boxing skills.
Verhoeven talked about how Fury’s camp benefited him. “For me he (Peter Fury) is more than just a trainer,” the Dutchman said. “He’s more of a mentor because he explains why you should do things: feints, side steps, punches.
“At first my jab was really bad and I wasn’t fast enough. He took his time and was patient and kept working day in and day out.
“If you look at the kickboxing part, everyone’s standing there stiff. Boxing is much lighter, touching up, moving. That’s totally different and that’s what I try to do in a kickboxing match. That’s why I think I’m a champion, because not many kickboxers do that.”
