On Saturday, history is set to be made as Oleksandr Usyk defends his status as the best heavyweight on the planet against Rico Verhoeven.
Usyk vs Verhoeven marks the challenger’s second professional boxing contest, here’s everything you need to know about him.
Verhoeven is nicknamed ‘The King of Kickboxing’ and has a professional kickboxing record of 54-10 with 16 stoppages along the way.
He was born in the Netherlands and made his professional debut at just 16-years-old.
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The Dutchman is widely regarded as one of, if not the greatest kickboxers of all time. He became GLORY heavyweight world champion back in 2014.
The 37-year-old dominated and defended his title for over a decade.
🇪🇬 ‘𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐋𝐄’ 👑 𓁀
🤔 Who takes home the @WBCBoxing, @usykaa or @RicoVerhoeven ? 👀#UsykVerhoeven pic.twitter.com/0z4h8e66zy
— Pro Boxing Fans (@ProBoxingFans) May 21, 2026
He is acknowledged in the kickboxing world for his elite cardio, technical skill and fight IQ, and is known to many for his famous rivalry with Badr Hari, a man he stopped twice over three years.
Verhoeven stands at a towering 6ft 5ins with a 200cm reach in comparison to his opponent Usyk, who stands at 6ft 3ins with a 198cm reach.
Despite challenging a man who is regarded by many as the pound-for-pound number one in boxing, this will be only Verhoeven’s second professional boxing fight.
‼️ 𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐊𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑 𝐔𝐒𝐘𝐊 𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐃 🤩
👀 Will @usykaa add to his already impressive heavyweight resume with a win over kickboxing legend, @RicoVerhoeven ? 🤔#UsykVerhoeven pic.twitter.com/XMpPrWG9ZK
— Pro Boxing Fans (@ProBoxingFans) May 20, 2026
The only time he stepped into the squared circle was back in 2014, before he picked up any of his titles in kickboxing.
He faced 0-5 Janos Finfera in Germany and made no mistake, stopping his opponent in the second round.
His fight with the Ukrainian is set to take place in front of the Pyramids of Giza, a first for the sport in what should prove to be a historic spectacle.
🇺🇦 OLEKSANDR USYK 🆚 RICO VERHOEVEN 🇳🇱 – FIRST FACE OFF OF FIGHT WEEK 👀#usykverhoeven pic.twitter.com/9BqobLOzHz
— Pro Boxing Fans (@ProBoxingFans) May 19, 2026
The event has been put together by Turki Alalshikh and The Ring Magazine and will be broadcast live on DAZN pay-per-view.
Over the last decade, Verhoeven has worked alongside highly esteemed boxing coach Peter Fury, who helped develop his boxing ability for his kickboxing career.
Verhoeven and Fury spoke about how beneficial the last six months focusing solely on boxing has been; he was originally pencilled in to face Anthony Joshua.
