Rico Verhoeven sparring partner has described the kickboxer’s power
Oleksandr Usyk has been sent a major warning ahead of his fight against Rico Verhoeven, by the Dutchman’s sparring partner, Matty Harris.
The three-time undisputed champion faces the ‘The King of Kickboxing’ on May 23 in Egypt, live on DAZN.
British heavyweight ‘Magic’ Matty Harris (10-1, 7 KOs) has sparred the best in the business, from Anthony Joshua to Daniel Dubois, but he claims that it was Verhoeven who left the most impact on him after their very first sparring session
Harris said of his move around with ‘The King of Kickboxing’, “It’s probably one of the two, maybe three [hardest] shots I’ve been hit with ever, like sparring, fighting, regardless.
“And I don’t mind telling you this, when he hit me I thought I was standing on the roof! I got caught with a shot, the room spun upside down.
“But obviously, I stayed on my feet and got through it anyway, he didn’t even know. But I did tell him afterwards and he found it quite funny.
“But yeah, he can punch. He’s a big man. He’s 125 kilos or whatever he said he was. He’s a big fella. And he’s complete muscle as well.
“There’s not an ounce of fat on him, he’s ripped to shreds. So the man is very strong man. He’s a proper athlete.
“I’m looking forward to it and I’m telling you, it will be an interesting fight on Saturday.”
the 6’8″ heavyweight Harris is 26-years-old from Coventry. He won his pro debut on points in November 2021, then knocked out his next four foes all in the first round, one of them within 23 seconds.
Then he got caught in the fifth round of a routine fight with journeyman Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko in 2023 and had to rebuild his career, which he has done with five straight wins, culminating in a second-round stoppage of highly-regarded Franklin Ignatius in April.
How to watch Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven