Rico Verhoeven has considered the idea of facing Tyson Fury, with whom he has sparred numerous rounds and whose uncle, Peter Fury, just so happens to be his head coach.
The 37-year-old came remarkably close to pulling off a monumental upset last Saturday, only to suffer an 11th-round stoppage defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
During their contest, though, many would have been scratching their heads as Usyk, at the very least, appeared to be making hard work of the task at hand.
Beforehand, many had predicted that the Ukrainian would dispatch his opponent within a few rounds, only to find that Verhoeven was a far stronger competitor than expected.
At the time of the stoppage, the Dutch kickboxer had built a slight lead on one of the judges’ scorecards, while the other two had it 95-95 before Usyk floored his man with an uppercut.
The 39-year-old’s stoppage victory was then facilitated by referee Mark Lyson, allowing him to retain his WBC, IBF and WBA world titles.
Naturally, Verhoeven is keen to face Usyk in an immediate rematch, but may need to explore alternative options while the heavyweight king considers a title defence against WBC ‘interim’ champion Agit Kabayel.
When introduced to a list of potential opponents, however, Verhoeven told BoxingScene that a clash with ‘The Gypsy King’ could prove problematic.
“I would fight him, but I don’t think that would make too much sense with my relationship with Peter [Fury]. But if that fight was presented to me, it is what it is.”
While not quite ruling out the possibility of facing Fury, Verhoeven is nonetheless unlikely to pursue a clash with the nephew of his trainer.
