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'We'll leave everything open!' - Rico Verhoeven relishing boxing second life
Time waits for no man. But for Rico Verhoeven, time is something he remains determined to outstrip as his second career opens up.
One month ago, the Dutchman was roundly dismissed as a legitimate contender, just another crossover star here to chance their arm.
Fast-forward to now, and the former GLORY Heavyweight Champion is more than just an easy workout. Now, he is suddenly a threat.
Verhoeven's unorthodox performance against Oleksandr Usyk last Saturday, beneath the shadows of the Giza necropolis, won hearts.
Is Kabayel next for Usyk after Rico win?
Relive Glory in Giza here
Having been tipped to not make it past the halfway mark of their unified title bout, he arguably was in front until the closing stages.
"I was super excited," he tells DAZN News, midway through a busy day of engagements as the fallout from Egypt continues to flow.
"I was like, hey, I'm starting to win this fight! It felt good. But then I see the scorecards, and we're level. You think what happened here."
A penultimate round knockdown, followed by a sudden stoppage, robbed Verhoeven of the chance to go the distance with an all-time great.
But even had he got there, the scorecards suggested a result where Usyk likely would have edged the tightest of decisions between the two.
'Maybe you've got to be so much better'
Verhoeven, naturally, does not agree, though he has his reasons for the assumption: "I think maybe they look at it all through a boxing lens.
"Maybe you've got to be so much better than the champion to get the opportunity to win the belt. But being better is being better, no?"
It comes back, perhaps, to an ingrained snobbery from the community he is trying to crack, the sense that other pursuits pale next to boxing.
The star does not disagree. "It's thinking within the box," he muses. "The world of martials arts goes so much further. It's a terrible shortcoming."
He shrugs. "But we can't do anything about it. Everybody has the right to their own opinion. But facts and truth? Well, that's something different."
It is something that Verhoeven has not neccessarily had to deal with before. Back home in the Netherlands, kickboxing has long been king.
Having started out after his father took him to a gym at the age of six, the star grew to become one of the sport's most bankable superstars.
His ability to bridge the gap between two disciplines should not have come as a surprise. He mentions the pride his family has in his efforts.
"They were excited," he says. There's a smile in his voice, but also the tautness of frustration. "They saw it as a huge obstacle with Usyk."
'An honour to send him into retirement'
Verhoeven still has plenty of positives to take away in defeat. Few others have pushed the veteran Ukrainian around like he has on canvas.
Hopes for an immediate rematch appear likely to snag on both Usyk's own willingness to entertain another bout, and the drive of Agit Kabayel.
But irrespective of whether he snags the star immediately, it appears that his future lies in the squared circle for now, with multiple options.
"We'll leave everything open," he adds. "We're getting so many opportunities, and people that are approaching us for different kinds of fights.
Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
"[I] just [want them to] give me the biggest names out there. But right now, we're keeping our eyes out for a rematch, and we'll go from there.
Does he believe he could take on a Tyson Fury, or Anthony Joshua, and triumph? Perhaps a Daniel Dubois or a Fabio Wardley to boot too?
Verhoeven chuckles. "All of them. Any top heavyweight, I have the chance to win, to be the best and beat them. We showed that on Saturday."
But it is Usyk that he wants, and Usyk that he hopes to get. The latter allegedly has only two fights left, before he quits the ring and calls time.
What would it mean for Verhoeven to meet him one more time? He grins. "It would be amazing. It would be an honour to send him into retirement."
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