Tony Bellew predicts ‘dangerous’ Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven heavyweight fight

Former world champion Tony Bellew, who suffered an eighth-round stoppage defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in 2018, has given his thoughts on Rico Verhoeven’s chances against the masterful Ukrainian.

It was announced on Friday that Usyk will defend his WBC title against the kickboxing star on May 23, headlining a show at Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza, though the WBC have since offered an update suggesting the belt may not be on the line.

Needless to say, this is a terrifically tall order for Verhoeven, whose only professional boxing outing came via a second-round finish over Janos Finfera – whose record was 0-5 at the time – in 2014.

Usyk, meanwhile, has firmly cemented himself as the greatest heavyweight of this era, having twice beaten Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.

The 39-year-old’s last outing, a fifth-round finish over Dubois in July, also saw him become a three-time, two-division undisputed champion, adding to his accolades across the professional and amateur ranks.

Since then, though, Usyk has relinquished his WBO world title – now held by Fabio Wardley – while his IBF and WBA belts are seemingly not up for grabs for his clash with Verhoeven.

But still, Usyk is widely regarded as the bona fide heavyweight king, while Verhoeven remains a largely unknown quantity in the professional boxing arena.

Taking to social media, Bellew said he expects the ‘dangerous’ 36-year-old to be in the fight for just over two rounds, before facing the full force of Usyk’s brilliance.

“He’ll come in and give it everything with no hesitation and will [not] show respect which will make it interesting for about 6/7 mins!

“Once this passes he’ll be given a painful lesson! He’s big, brave and dangerous but has no boxing IQ at this level! This isn’t sparring!”

Verhoeven has been training with respected coach Peter Fury, and boasts a decorated kickboxing background, but has ultimately never encountered a fighter like Usyk.