Tyson Fury has weighed in on Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven, having twice fought the defending champion and shared rounds of sparring with the challenger.
Needless to say, it would be a monumental upset if Verhoeven, the Dutch kickboxer, manages to dethrone Usyk at Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza this Saturday.
The 37-year-old has only ever had one professional boxing match, against an opponent who subsequently retired with a record of 0-6.
Verhoeven managed to score a second-round finish on that night back in 2014, but has by no means competed anywhere near the level of Usyk in pro boxing.
The Ukrainian, meanwhile, has not fought since his fifth-round stoppage victory over Daniel Dubois last July, back when he became a three-time, two-division undisputed champion.
Usyk then opted to vacate his WBO world title, which is now held by Dubois, while maintaining possession of his WBC, IBF and WBA belts.
To retain his top-dog status, however, Usyk cannot afford any unforced errors against Verhoeven, who sparred ‘The Gypsy King’ back in 2015.
But despite crediting Verhoeven for possessing a “big right hand”, Fury has told Gareth A Davies that Usyk should ultimately emerge triumphant this Saturday.
“He’s a big man, isn’t he? Big right hand. But I’m sure Usyk’s faced many right-handed people who can knock people out – i.e. Anthony Joshua [and] Daniel Dubois.
“He’s fought a lot of big men with a similar style to Rico. But listen, [Verhoeven’s] a big man, he’s got a chance, he’s got power – who knows what he can do in there?
“Usyk’s, what is he? 39 years old now? But the thing with him is he’s only had 24 [professional] fights, so he doesn’t have a lot of mileage on the clock, and he turned pro in late 2013. I think he’s going to be all right.”
With Usyk having outpointed Fury on two occasions in 2024, it is hardly surprising that the Brit rates his former opponent’s skills higher than those of Verhoeven.
