{"id":613404,"date":"2026-05-31T08:52:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T08:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/613404\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T08:52:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T08:52:07","slug":"derek-chisora-names-names-british-heavyweight-as-the-man-rico-verhoeven-should-fight-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/613404\/","title":{"rendered":"Derek Chisora names names British heavyweight as the man Rico Verhoeven should fight next"},"content":{"rendered":"

Should a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk fail to materialise, Derek Chisora has suggested another heavyweight who Rico Verhoeven could face next.<\/p>\n

As it stands, Usyk must make a decision on whether he faces Agit Kabayel<\/a>, his mandatory challenger, or just simply vacates the WBC world title.<\/p>\n

Relinquishing the belt would allow him to pursue an immediate rematch with Verhoeven, who gave a tremendous account of himself against the Ukrainian last Saturday.<\/p>\n

Despite being an almighty underdog, the accomplished kickboxer managed to build a slight lead on one of the judges\u2019 cards<\/a>, while the other two scoring officials had it even after 10 rounds.<\/p>\n

Usyk then responded by flooring his man in round 11, with referee Mark Lyson ultimately calling a halt at the sound of the bell.<\/p>\n

While not doing quite enough to win, Verhoeven has certainly made a sizable splash in the boxing world, putting himself in the shop window for a major opportunity.<\/p>\n

If an Usyk rematch is off the table, then Chisora has told Seconds Out<\/a> that the 37-year-old should consider facing heavyweight veteran Dillian Whyte.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Rico should fight Dillian Whyte.\u201d<\/p>\n

A former kickboxer himself, Whyte was once considered a genuine contender but, now, at the age of 38, it seems he is on the doorstep of retirement.<\/p>\n

Despite \u2018The Body Snatcher\u2019 also coming off a first-round stoppage defeat to Moses Itauma in August, he would certainly present a different style than Usyk for Verhoeven, who has vowed to stick around in boxing and may look to build up a steady record of names.<\/p>\n

Who the Dutchman targets next should become clear in the coming weeks, with Usyk soon forced into making a decision on his mandatory order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Should a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk fail to materialise, Derek Chisora has suggested another heavyweight who Rico Verhoeven…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-613404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}