A chance meeting with Hollywood star Jason Statham helped set the stage for Rico Verhoeven’s upcoming fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
Verhoeven, who held the GLORY heavyweight title for over a decade and has been unbeaten since 2015 in kickboxing, will face Usyk on May 23 in Egypt at the Pyramids of Giza. The event, titled “Glory of Giza: Undefeated Icons,” is promoted by Ring Magazine and continues boxing’s recent trend of high-profile crossover fights.
According to Verhoeven, the connection began when he met Statham in London through mutual friends. The two quickly became close and remained in contact. Their relationship later proved crucial when they met again in Riyadh during Oleksandr Usyk’s fight with Tyson Fury.
Verhoeven said Statham personally raised the idea of a major fight for him while speaking with Turki Alalshikh. “He started talking to His Excellency about me, he just planted the seed,” Verhoeven explained, describing the actor as “the glue” that helped initiate discussions.
Plans initially involved a fight with Anthony Joshua, but that fell through after Joshua was involved in a car accident on December 31 that killed two of his friends. Verhoeven then proposed the idea of fighting Usyk instead, which was met with enthusiasm from organizers and the champion himself.
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