Overview
- The fight is set for Saturday night at a temporary 5,000-seat arena near the Grand Egyptian Museum with the pyramids as a backdrop and tickets sold out.
- Rico Verhoeven has spent the past year training to convert from kickboxing to boxing and says his unorthodox, ‘unpredictable’ style is his best chance in the ring.
- Experts and former Dutch boxers warn Verhoeven’s chances are small and say the technical demands of boxing make a big upset unlikely.
- Bookmakers list Oleksandr Usyk as a heavy favorite with very short odds while a Verhoeven win would pay out far more, and the event will stream on DAZN.
- A Verhoeven victory would make him the first Dutch heavyweight boxing world champion and has driven strong commercial interest in the spectacle staged at Giza.