The first question I asked when I was told Oleksandr Usyk’s fighting Rico Verhoeven was whether his titles were on the line – because surely they couldn’t be?
But they will fight for the WBC heavyweight title. Which, even though the WBC makes all of the exceptions it does, is wild.
When they sanctioned Manny Pacquiao as a challenger to Mario Barrios in 2025 it represented a risk but it could also be argued that they were showing respect to an icon of the sport, and against a titlist with limitations.
Usyk-Verhoeven is completely different. There’s no way this should be getting sanctioned as a title fight. It’s crazy, and an insult to boxing.
Usyk, as the champion, has a responsibility too. Until agreeing to fight Verhoeven he consistently fought the toughest opponents, which has led to suggestions that he deserves a break from doing so, but as the champion he ought to be consistently fighting the best and instead he’s giving a title shot to an opponent who doesn’t deserve it.
The winner of Fabio Wardley-Daniel Dubois – even if that means fighting Dubois for the third time – would have been far more worthy than Verhoeven. Agit Kabayel, the mandatory challenger with the WBC, also would be – how is this fair on him? This isn’t an exhibition – Verhoeven is jumping the line. Usyk had always been so pure and always done so much that’s positive for boxing – he’s been exemplary. By agreeing to this, as the champion, he’s becoming part of the problem.
Even if this means Usyk’s ready to retire – and it far from guarantees that he is – I don’t expect him to take Verhoeven lightly. Even if his motivation isn’t the same in 2026, his discipline will be. A fighter with that mindset will take all of the steps they can to be at their best every time. The only risk he’s really taking is that at 39 years old he’s putting his body through another training camp and fight that means that if he continues to fight after this he’ll have brought closer the day when he finally starts to look old. Not that it would be a surprise if he retires after this, by the way – it has the appearance of a swan song.
The range for kicks for a kickboxer is very different to hands for a boxer. Their footwork has to be different too. Some skills are transferrable, but it can’t happen overnight – certainly not against an opponent like Usyk. I see absolutely nothing in Verhoeven that suggests that he has a chance.
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At this point in Floyd Mayweather’s career he has to pick his opponents more carefully than ever. He’s capable of forging a path to a title fight, but at 49 I’m not convinced that he can win one – particularly with the recently weak welterweight division again growing in strength.
The rematch with Pacquiao is bound to prove very popular but, after that, if he fights younger opponents, he’s going to put himself at risk. A fight against an opponent like me would make much more sense – I’m a former world champion and I’ve been active in bare-knuckle boxing.
A fighter always misses fighting. But I’m not sure Mayweather was missing it enough to come back without money being the biggest driver. I certainly don’t believe he’s broke – most of us will never understand what it means to have the wealth I suspect he still has – and I happen to believe he never stopped training. I make him the favourite against Pacquiao. From what I’ve seen of his body language and rhythm in training, he’d beat Barrios today.
