Under a moon, under the stars, and with the pyramids glowing in their neon splendour, Rico Verhoeven will attempt the impossible in the middle of the magical on Saturday night. In the opposite corner will be heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk, surrounded by his merry men and lightly dancing on his toes until it is time to fight. The pyramids of Giza will form the backdrop to the latest crazy story in boxing’s rich tradition of mayhem: it’s crossover season again.
Verhoeven will be in a world heavyweight title fight in just his second professional boxing match and, even if he wins, he will not leave the ring with any of the world championship belts. Verhoeven will not win, but he will be a dangerous nuisance until Usyk breaks him. If Usyk loses, it will be the biggest shock ever in any sport.
There is a glorious and often ugly history of men entering the boxing ring with their skills from other fighting sports as a flimsy shield, and then getting beaten – often badly. There are some exceptions; Vitali Klitschko was a great heavyweight world champion after a good career in kickboxing. That was a permanent and early crossover, but most have finished in pain for the aspiring wrestler, jiu-jitsu master, karate king, kung fu boss and kickboxing legend.
It has been similarly hurtful when boxers have switched to MMA or Muay Thai for a bit of cash. It is a playground of hurtful truth; Anthony Joshua knocking out Francis Ngannou in 2024 and Randy Couture submitting James Toney in 2010 are ugly memories, although Ngannou’s boxing debut against Tyson Fury was beyond a commendable effort.
Verhoeven has been gifted the greatest setting to change the trend; he was the Glory world kickboxing champion for an impressive 4,220 days. He is on an unbeaten sequence of 22 wins, and he has ambitions of a life and career in Hollywood. Jean-Claude Van Damme once won 19 of his 20 fights by brutal knockout as a kickboxer, and then he became a Hollywood legend. Verhoeven has his feet in Big Claude’s footsteps, and fighting Usyk is a decent way to launch the journey.
In the week of the fight, the status of the three genuine heavyweight belts that Usyk won in the boxing ring is still not fully clear; the WBC has created an ornate belt with camels and pyramids for the fight, but if their champion loses, he might not lose his real belt. It is murky; a bit silly, to tell the truth. The IBF and WBA have reluctantly sanctioned the fight, but Verhoeven will not leave with their belts if he pulls off the shock in the Egyptian desert late on Saturday night.
So, it has been a week of photo opportunities with ugly camels (the most cherished, it turns out), men wearing a fashion gimmick Fez, and trips in a felucca down the Nile. There have been sunsets from verandahs, and they have been balanced with a gathering of some of boxing’s most seasoned people arguing about gloves and ring size.
It is all Van Damme’s fault and his mix of Hollywood and knockouts. Big Rico is walking in those footsteps against one of the most spectacular backdrops ever in sport – and one of the very best heavyweight champions to ever fight. I said magical, not logical.
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