Rico Verhoeven says his leap from kickboxing to taking \u200bon Oleksandr Usyk for the world heavyweight boxing \u200btitle against the stunning backdrop of the \u200cPyramids \u200bof Giza proves there are no longer any boundaries in martial sports. Ukrainian Usyk will put his WBC heavyweight belt on the line against the Dutchman on \u200cSaturday in what will be the first fight for the undisputed world champion since he beat Britain\u2019s Daniel Dubois in London last July. “(This) showcases that there are no limits to what is possible – so that means within fighting and \u200cdifferent sports, top dogs within different sports facing each other, and also within every possible location,” Verhoeven, 37, \u200ctold Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
“This is the craziest location, or at least one of the craziest locations, you can have an event. So yeah, I think the impact is amazing. “It’s such a historic place, and it brings so much history with it.”<\/p>\n
Verhoeven spent \u206012 years \u200bas the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing \u2060champion but has fought only one previous professional boxing bout, which he won by knockout 12 years ago. The Dutchman, who appeared at \u2060Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference wearing a T-shirt of Egypt’s most prestigious soccer club, Al Ahly, announced his exit from kickboxing last \u200bNovember after 76 fights and 66 wins.<\/p>\n
Usyk, who holds the IBF, WBA and WBC titles after vacating \u2060the WBO belt, agreed that fighting at the UNESCO World Heritage Site was a “great idea”. “This is important, not only for me. This is \u2060important \u200bfor all boxing, all people and Egypt,” he told Reuters.<\/p>\n
“It’s the first time that we’re here. I think, after this fight, a lot of people will look (and say), ‘Oh, it’s possible, maybe organise a fight in Egypt \u2060for the Pyramids, or maybe in Paris.'” The WBC will award a specially themed belt to the winner of Saturday’s \u2060fight, President Mauricio Sulaiman told \u2060Reuters.<\/p>\n
“This is a very unique, special belt that we call the King of the Nile Belt. It is a special trophy for the winner of the fight”, he \u200cadded. <\/p>\n
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