Despite coming off a defeat to Oleksandr Usyk, former long-reigning kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven could soon land another world title shot, this time at a 50,000-seat stadium.
The 37-year-old gave a tremendous account of himself in May, coming tantalisingly close to pulling off a major upset against the lineal heavyweight champion.
Prior to that, Verhoeven’s only professional boxing match came against a 0-5 journeyman, who he stopped in round two of their 2014 encounter.
Yet despite his lack of pugilistic experience, the Dutchman was presented with an opportunity to claim Usyk’s WBC title in Egypt.
The Ukrainian had been made an almighty favourite but, rather astonishingly, it was Verhoeven who built a slight lead on one of the judges’ scorecards through 10 rounds.
This remarkable achievement was then followed by an 11th-round knockdown, with referee Mark Lyson waving Verhoeven off on his feet after the bell had sounded.
Subsequently, the kickboxing legend entered the WBC rankings at No.8, while Usyk has now vacated his three belts and afforded Agit Kabayel an upgrade from ‘interim’ to full WBC champion.
Speaking with Playbook Boxing, Kabayel’s manager, Spencer Brown, proposed a potential voluntary title defence against Verhoeven.
“Holland’s very close to Germany; it’s an hour away. [Verhoeven would] bring massive support, and I think that would fill 50,000 in Germany.
“It’s a sensible fight. I think Oleksandr Usyk won the fight fair and square … [But] I thought [Verhoeven] put up an unbelievable performance. I’d never seen anything like it.”
Kabayel claimed his ‘interim’ title with a sixth-round stoppage of Zhilei Zhang in February 2025, underlining his status as one of the division’s most formidable body punchers.
Now coming off a third-round finish over Damian Knyba in Germany, the unbeaten 33-year-old will be eager to defend his new strap later this year.
