Oleksandr Usyk Weighs Career Heaviest for Rico Verhoeven Fight

Verhoeven is set to participate in just his second ever boxing fight against, in many people’s eyes, the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet, Usyk.

The pair took to the scales with Verhoeven the bigger man at 258.7lbs, seven pounds lighter than his last kickboxing fight back in June last year when he beat Artem Vakhitov at 265lbs.

Usyk weighed in at a career-heaviest 233.3lbs, six pounds heavier than last time out against Daniel Dubois, who he stopped in five rounds.

His weight of 227.3lbs against Dubois was a career heaviest at the time, suggesting ‘The Cat’ will continue to increase in weight over his last few fights in the squared circle.

Usyk knocked out Dubois in five rounds Photo Credit: Photo Credit: Queensberry/Leigh Dawney

Usyk has dominated at both heavyweight & cruiserweight since turning professional back in 2013 when he weighed in at 200.5lbs against Felipe Romero.

During his amateur career, the Ukrainian first competed at middleweight at around 165lbs, and the lightest he has weighed during his professional career was 198lbs against Tony Bellew.

Usyk comes into his contest against Verhoeven as a heavy favourite after his recent run of dominance over the heavyweight division.

With multiple wins over Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua & Daniel Dubois, to many, Usyk has stamped his name as one of the best heavyweights in history.

Usyk proved too much for Joshua (Nick Potts, PA)

Verhoeven held a similar status in his usual discipline of kickboxing, defending his GLORY kickboxing crown for over 10 years before stepping into the squared circle for the first time in over 11 years.

Should ‘The Cat’ come through Saturday successfully, he has flirted with fights against Daniel Dubois, Agit Kabayel and a trilogy with Tyson Fury.