Usyk calls kickboxer Verhoeven a dangerous opponent and predicts Joshua would beat Fury
LONDON (AP) — Oleksandr Usyk offered an explanation Tuesday for why he's giving kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven a shot at his WBC heavyweight title. “One time I want to do what I want,” the 39-year-old Usyk said at a news conference. The undefeated Ukrainian's WBA and IBF belts won’t be on the line when he faces the 37-year-old Dutch kickboxer in a 12-round bout on May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
Usyk, who hasn’t fought since a fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium last July, said “a lot of people” have asked why he's fighting a novice, while the likes of Agit Kabayel — the WBC interim champion — wait in the wings. “(Verhoeven's) a great guy, a dangerous guy,” said Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs). “A lot of time I do what other people (demand).
I say OK, OK, OK — now, I do what I (want). ” Verhoeven says Usyk ‘will go down’ The 6-foot-5 Verhoeven won his only bout as a boxer, which was in 2014. He was a longtime heavyweight kickboxing champion.
He was asked how he'll accomplish what no other pro boxer has been able to do — beat Usyk. “I’m going to bring kickboxing angles, bring a different type of puzzle,” Verhoeven said. “I’m a big unit.
I’m like 125 kilos (265 lbs). " Usyk, a former cruiserweight champion, fights at under 230 lbs and has beaten an array of larger opponents, including Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. “When I land my best punch on him, of course he will go down,” Verhoeven said.