WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven held their first face-off and a press conference before their fight, which is scheduled to take place in May in Egypt, UNN reports.
Details
After the press conference, the fighters engaged in a staredown. The boxers looked at each other for two minutes and did not intend to look away until Verhoeven's promoter, Eddie Hearn, interrupted the staredown.
During the press conference, the host addressed Hearn: "You've worked with Oleksandr Usyk quite a few times as his promoter, he's also broken your heart a few times, so choose your words carefully because Rico Verhoeven is a big man and he's now within arm's reach of you, but what are the main questions about this fight that you have in mind?"
To which Usyk interjected and sarcastically said: "Be careful, bro," to which Verhoeven's promoter replied: "I know."
Usyk's new phrase has every chance of becoming a meme. However, whether it will repeat the success of the previous one — "Don't push the horses" — is currently unknown.
Hearn also shared his expectations for the upcoming fight.
In this case, I'm sitting next to him, so I have to be a little careful, but I told him there: "I'm going to have to tell the whole world that you're crazy. This guy is crazy." I mean, he signed a contract to fight Anthony Joshua. Unfortunately, as you know, after the tragedy, that fight didn't happen, and then he immediately signed a contract to fight Oleksandr Usyk. But it shows that he has enormous self-confidence and enormous faith. He has a great coaching team. And he also has dynamite in both hands and hands like shovels. But, in my opinion, he is fighting not just the number one ranked fighter, but one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport of any generation. Oleksandr Usyk is a unique boxer, whom, in my opinion, we have never seen before. I believe we should appreciate him while he is here. This will be an incredible event. This is heavyweight boxing, and anything can happen. As I said, on May 23, this man will have to climb to the top of the pyramid in a fight against one of the greatest fighters of all time, but something in his eyes tells me that he came to win. He believes he can win, and we will see if he can do what may be impossible.
Usyk himself stated during the press conference that for the first time in his life, he would fight whom he wanted, not whom he had to.
I am very happy to be here. I am very happy to be back in Great Britain, you know, I missed it a little bit these six months, yes, since last time. Thank you very much. Thank you to the organizers who arranged this. Thank you, Rico. Thank you to Rico's team. This is a familiar challenge. Many people say: "Why aren't you a boxer?" He's a cool guy. He's a dangerous guy. You know, I want, please, for once to do what I want, not what I have to, because often I do what others need, and you have to, you have to box like this, you have to box like that, I say: "Okay, okay, okay." Now I'm doing what I need to.
Verhoeven also stated that his best punch would make Usyk fall.
When I hit him with my best punch, he will, of course, fall, because the weight difference is about 20 kilograms. He is a boxer who gains weight to the light heavyweight category. And I am a natural heavyweight. So the difference is significant. That's what will happen if I hit him with my best punch. And if not, we will still win.
To which Usyk replied: "We'll see."
Recall
WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk will have his next fight against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in May. The fight will take place in Egypt.