Former Glory Kickboxing Champion Rico Verhoeven has addressed the skepticism surrounding his transition to boxing ahead of his May 23 fight with Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Uysk.
While his pro boxing record sits at a solitary 2014 knockout of Janos Finfera, Rico maintains that he has been a boxer for over a decade. A major talking point of the fight is the addition of Peter Fury—the trainer behind Tyson Fury’s win over Wladimir Klitschko—to Verhoeven’s corner.
Verhoeven revealed he began as a teenager traveling to Belgium and the UK to serve as a sparring partner for Tyson and Hughie Fury. The WBC’s decision to sanction this as a voluntary title defense for Usyk has drawn fire from mandatory challengers like Agit Kabayel. Verhoeven, however, views the criticism as unfounded.
“The transition from being a kickboxer to boxing — I’ve been boxing for the last 15 years. Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, Peter Fury has been added to Team Rico.’ Guys, I’ve been training with Peter Fury for the last 15 years. Back in the day, just coming as a sparring partner for Tyson Fury, and just being there constantly, putting in the work, and getting better. Turning from a sparring partner into a training partner. That’s also one of the key elements that made me such a good kickboxer,” Rico saidÂ