THE NON-CONFORMIST OF COMBAT
The Ring: We saw Francis Ngannou go from testing Tyson Fury and dropping a close decision to being annihilated by Anthony Joshua in his next fight. What makes Rico Verhoeven different? What’s to stop you going in there and being ironed out by another heavyweight? RV: I don’t care. People can have their opinion, right? But if you want to be fair and objective on this fight, people didn’t give me four or five rounds. They said if I went past the fourth, it’s gonna be crazy, it’s gonna be a win for Rico. I was dominating the early rounds. If you listen to people, you’re going to have a very sad and hard life. The Ring: A lot of people have given you deserved praise for a wonderful performance. What have you made of the positive feedback you’ve had? RV: I love it. It’s amazing, and I’m super- thankful. It’s another moment where people look in the mirror and say, “Hey, let’s not always judge a book by its cover!” Let’s first dive a little deeper into it and give everyone a shot at what they’re doing. Give your opinions afterwards instead of ahead of a fight. The Ring: You’ve had the benefit of working with Peter Fury for years, but do you think a transition to boxing is something that other kickboxers could do successfully? RV: Yeah, of course. The GLORY kickboxing level is really high. But you should put the time in. Really put the time in to work on yourself. It’s not a transition you can make from one day to another; it really takes time. You have to study the game and put in the work. The Ring: What have you been doing since the fight? Please tell me that you’re going to take a holiday. RV: Yeah, we’ll take a holiday somewhere in July. I’ll be taking some time off, but I cannot sit around doing nothing. I want to stay active. After this [interview], I’ll pick up the kids from school and spend time with them.
a fighter because they just look at fighting differently. Dennis always talks about second and third phase. If I throw a jab, what does [the opponent] do? Maybe he throws a low kick. Maybe we block. Maybe he throws a right hand. There are multiple phases. The Ring: I remember David Reid saying in his corner after one round against Felix Trinidad that he could feel Tito’s experience in the ring. Reid was an Olympic gold medalist, but Trinidad was an experienced and well-rounded fighter by this point. When you began punch-swapping with Usyk, how did it feel? Could you feel a difference? RV: No, I just felt that he was a very good, confident and relaxed fighter. But there were moments when I felt that he was uncomfortable, that he wasn’t liking it. This isn’t what he expected. He looked at it like here’s the big kickboxer coming in, throwing punches and trying to take my head off. He’s going to blow
his tank out, and that’s it. But that’s not what we trained for. That’s not how we approach fighting in general at all. So, [Usyk] was like, “What the hell is going on here?” The Ring: On a technical level, were you surprised by anything in the fight? You knew he was a great boxer coming in, but you must gather a lot of information when you’re in there. RV: Nope. Peter and I discussed this many times. He said, “Trust me, he’s not going to show you anything you’ve not seen before!” I’d put so many rounds in with Hughie Fury, who’s like my younger brother. He’s so experienced in the world of boxing and has been around the game since he was a child. He’s so good and has everything it takes
to be an elite fighter. Putting the rounds in with him was amazing.
hard. Before you were caught with the uppercut, how did you feel? It looked like you were floundering a little before you were caught. RV: You’re 100% correct. Of course I was tired. I’m a 6-5, [258-pound] guy. I was pushing the pace for 11 rounds. Who else has done that to this guy? Nobody! Nobody has done that to this guy. But to be completely honest, if they had told me after eight rounds that I was six rounds ahead, I’d have taken my foot off the gas. They said we were level, and I’m like, “How the fuck can we be level?” I wasn’t just fighting Usyk; I’m fighting the whole boxing world. The Ring: You appealed due to the controversial stoppage. Where do things stand right now? RV: The Commission has now issued its ruling. They confirmed that the bell ending Round 11 had already sounded before the fight was officially waved off and that I showed no signs of confusion or disorientation after the bout. At the same time, they concluded that those findings did not affect the official result. My goal with the appeal was never to change the result. It was about acknowledgement. If a mistake was made, just say it. Mark Lyson was the referee and he was representing the organization in that moment. We all make mistakes. Fighters do, referees do, organizations do. Nothing can change what happened now, and I understand that. But I still believe it was an early stoppage. A simple acknowledgement of that would have gone a long way. That’s all I was looking for. I’m saying this because I could have freakin’ made history. If I had beat this man, that had never been done before. That was my goal. That’s why I was devastated after the fight. The Ring: I see that the WBC installed you at No. 8 in their heavyweight rankings and the WBA has you at 15, which is interesting given the fact that they refused to sanction the Usyk fight. What
are your thoughts on being rated? RV: I don’t care. Put me in front of any [top-teir opponent] and I’ll show them where I’m at. I think I deserve to be at least at the top, but I understand, of course, with the way the fight went, I can’t be near the top. That’s why I feel like the uncrowned king. I shocked the world. But in terms of numbers in the ratings, I couldn’t care less. Just get me big fights. The Ring: I always felt that Anthony Joshua was distracted by things going on outside the ring before he’d fully developed as a pro. You’ve had partnerships with Samsung, McLaren, Ducati and Dior, plus you’ve been in movies. How do you balance all that with such a tough life in combat sports and remain focused? RV: I try to prioritize. When I’m doing one thing, I’m not doing anything else. When I’m shooting a movie, I’m not preparing for a fight. When I do something, I’m focused on it. The Ring: What is your ideal scenario in boxing for the remainder of 2026 and into 2027? RV: I just want big fights. Of course I’m looking for the Usyk rematch. The Ring: Is the Usyk rematch realistic, or are you running out of time? Usyk was talking about having three more fights before retiring. That was you, then likely [Agit] Kabayel next, and one more if he sticks to his schedule. In your heart of hearts, do you think you’ll fight him again? RV: I definitely think it’s a realistic option. After eleven incredible rounds, I don’t think anyone got the ending they deserved. The fans were denied a 12th round, I never got the chance to see if I could turn things around, and Oleksandr never got the opportunity to finish it in a way that nobody could question. That’s why I believe the rematch makes perfect sense. It gives everyone the answer they’ve been looking for and lets the story reach its natural conclusion.
The Ring: The open scoring in this fight was a surprise to me. Did you know there would be open scoring? Where do you stand with that process? Are you for it or against it? RV: It can be nice as long as [the scoring] is done in the correct way. Do I feel like it was done in the correct way? No, it was more like I had to score three times and he only had to score once. When I looked back at it, it was like I was outworking him for most of the fight. But after eight rounds, they [scored] it level. I’m like, “How?” In Round 9, I blew up; it was a great round, amazing, and I won it clearly, but it took a lot out of me. That was the open scoring mindset. The Ring: I had you up narrowly going into Round 11. The action had been fast-paced and you’d pushed Usyk
His hand was raised, but victory No. 25 didn’t come easy for Usyk.
36 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
RINGMAGAZINE.COM 37
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker