Will Usyk vs Verhoeven be different from other crossover boxing spectacles.
Crossover boxing events have been around since the late 90s. The first widely recognized
crossover match took place in 1976 between heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali and
professional wrestler Antonio Inoki.
Since that time, we’ve seen several similar events between professional boxers and athletes from other combat sports such as MMA and kickboxing.
The most famous of them is the bout between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, who was then the UFC’s lightweight champion.
In recent years several MMA fighters including Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz, Mike Perry and Tyron Woodley have engaged in crossover boxing.
We do, however, see a consistent pattern in these sorts of bouts.
At the highest level, the boxer always wins.
Boxing is a sport unlike any other. Even though it only allows punches, boxing relies on cardiovascular endurance, intricate footwork, and defensive movements.
It’s hard for someone without extensive boxing experience to beat top professional boxers.
This month, we’ll see yet another significant crossover event, possibly the biggest since
McGregor vs. Mayweather.
An undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is set to compete against renowned kickboxing heavyweight Rico Verhoeven in a 12-round match in Giza, Egypt.
The last time a non-boxer fought at heavyweight, we saw Francis Ngannou, a former UFC and PFL champion nearly upset the odds against Tyson Fury, landing a knockdown but ultimately losing a split decision.
A few months after, Ngannou suffered a decisive loss against Anthony Joshua via knockout in the second round.
Rico Verhoeven is no stranger to the squared circle. In contrast to UFC fighters who compete in a six or eight-sided cage, kickboxers fight in a four sided ring.
This will provide Rico with a balanced playing field for movement around the ring. Rico’s bread and butter, however, are kicks and knees, and he won’t have these available as weapons against Usyk.
Regarding pacing, kickboxing matches are typically scheduled for either five 3-minute rounds or three 3-minute rounds.Verhoeven will have to prepare himself for a possible twelve 3-minutes round fight; a pacing
Usyk has had to endure many times in his career. Usyk on the other hand will bring over two decades of boxing experience spanning from amateur to pro. As well as undisputed credentials in both cruiserweight and heavyweight and
wins over Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. Rico has some advantages on paper, he’s two years younger, taller and has a wider reach.
But if anyone can beat someone of those dimensions, it is Usyk. He beat Tyson Fury twice; a
6’9” behemoth with an 89-inch reach.
The fight will bring the best of both boxing and kickboxing. However, it is likely to go down like
most other crossover bouts, with Usyk as the winner. But if history has taught as anything it’s you never count out the underdog, especially in
heavyweight boxing.
