“Love to change places with Francis,” Kickboxing champ Rico Verhoeven spots golden opportunity in Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou fight

Heavyweight Kickboxing World Champion, Rico Verhoeven aspires for a crossover super fight.

“Love to change places with Francis,” Kickboxing champ Rico Verhoeven spots golden opportunity in Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou fight

Rico Verhoeven and Francis Ngannou (Via MMA Fighting)

Glory Kickboxing heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven is out to prove he deserves Francis Ngannou‘s status. Ngannou’s recent boxing match against Tyson Fury was billed as the “Battle of The Baddest”. Although he didn’t get the official decision win, fans claim “The Predator” deserves the hypothetical accolade. As such, Verhoeven aspires to face Ngannou next.

While speaking to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, he mentioned he “saw some opportunities” in the prospect of a crossover matchup. He also said:

I would love to change places with Francis.
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Since then, however, Verhoeven has switched gears. He now wants to face Ngannou. Especially in part due to the latter’s performance against Fury. Appearing on Fight Nation with Jimmy Smith, he said he is also keen on crossovers.

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Before such a super fight, Verhoeven looks to defend his world title against Kevin Tariq Osaro. Osaro is on a four-fight winning streak at Glory: Collision 6. The fight happens on Nov.4.

Rico Verhoeven believes he can outperform Francis Ngannou

The super fight boxing exhibition at Riyadh has sparked crossover aspirations in many fighters. While Francis Ngannou didn’t win, he still came out on top. Ngannou dominated lineal boxing heavyweight Tyson Fury in a manner that has attracted many fans and peers. Amongst them is Rico Verhoeven.

Francis Ngannou
Francis Ngannou (Via X)

Verhoeven has trained extensively with the likes of Fury, Ngannou, and Tom Aspinall. He is no stranger to multi-spectrum sports. He also believes he can compete in both boxing and MMA. Appearing in an interview with Fight Nation, the ‘king of kickboxing’ said:

In the whole crossover game, that's where I think the real challenge is and yeah whatever. We could do a boxing fight, we could do an MMA fight like whatever, I'm open. I'm open to whoever wants it. What I saw Francis do, I know I can do exactly the same or better. I'm open for the whole top heavyweight game in boxing or MMA, let's do it.

The kickboxer is also astounded that the sport hasn’t gained much traction. Much to the likes of what commentator Joe Rogan had expressed before. With such a super fight, Verhoeven aims to rectify it.

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