Rico Verhoeven has revealed exactly what he makes of Oleksandr Usyk‘s punching power after their battle last month.
Usyk was defending his heavyweight crown against kickboxing star Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and despite it being perceived as a huge mismatch heading in, it nearly resulted in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
Verhoeven performed much better than most fans expected, winning a number of rounds and even being ahead on one of the official scorecards as the bout entered the 11th round.
It was in that round where Usyk was able to finally land a big shot that dropped Verhoeven, and while the Dutchman was able to get back to his feet, a further flurry in the corner led to referee Mark Lyson stopping the contest, though it wasn’t without its controversy.
Many onlookers felt the fight was stopped prematurely, and it also transpired that the bell had already rung to signal the end of the round before the stoppage occurred.
It led to an official appeal from Verhoeven, but he has since revealed that he was unsuccessful with that challenge, but is still keen to land an immediate rematch with his Ukrainian rival.
Verhoeven has now reflected on Usyk’s power in an interview with TalkSport, and even though he may have been dropped and ultimately stopped by the unified champion, the kickboxing star revealed that he has been hit harder in his career.
“He’s a very technical and intelligent fighter, and his power is good. Nothing crazy, but he has a punch on him.
“He’s not the hardest I have been hit by; that would be Semmy Schilt. He hit way harder; he was a big guy with a lot of power.”
Verhoeven met Schilt in a kickboxing battle in 2012, losing by unanimous decision. Schilt had 50 kickboxing bouts, winning 43, and while only 20 may have come by knockout, he stood at 6ft 11in and weighed over 20st, so it’s clear why his power was so noticeable.
