Rico Verhoeven shocked the world this past weekend when the kickboxing champ took Oleksandr Usyk to the absolute limit and almost beat the best heavyweight boxer in the world (highlights here).
There’s an argument to be made that it took the entire boxing apparatus to stop Verhoeven from winning in the end. Not only were the judges stacking the scorecards in Usyk’s favor, the referee ended up stopping the fight under dubious circumstances in the 11th round.
Despite the shadiness, everyone knows what
they witnessed and respect for Rico has gone through the roof. There’s also been a lot of acclaim for his boxing coach Peter Fury. Yes, another Fury! This one is Tyson Fury’s uncle who trained “The Gypsy King” en route to his shocking win over Wladimir Klitschko back in 2015.
At the same time as he was training Tyson, he also worked with a young man by the name of Tom Aspinall. Now the UFC heavyweight champion, there’s been a lot of chatter about Tom trying his hand at boxing … a scenario that Peter Fury believes would go well.
“He had one pro fight with me from maybe 2015 or something,” Fury recalled on The Ariel Helwani Show. “I can’t remember the exact times, but he was in the gym with us, and he spent two or three years with us training, and he really developed his boxing skills with us. So I regard Andy and Tom Aspinall as part of my team because they are. He’s done a lot with me, Tom, and his dad back in the day. We’re probably three or four years together.”
“So he had one pro fight with me, so he developed his boxing skills. We’ve had a a good relationship. His father’s an exceptional trainer in the MMA. He knows wrestling better than anybody, I would say. He’s top of the draw and such a great guy as well … So I’m pleased to see what Tom Aspinall’s done.”
“Tom Aspinall’s got super fast arms,” Fury continued. “He’s quick. He’s agile. For a man at 18.5 stone, 117 kilos. The speed and the way he moves is phenomenal. So could he do something in boxing? Yeah. It’s probably a similar story to Rico, really. He could definitely do the transition because they’ve all been around me for years in boxing.”
“They know the game because they know me and we’ve had the conversations for hours on end. They know the sport. They know this game because we’ve all been around each other for years. So yes, the transition for Tom Aspinall will be pretty easy. And do I think he can do big things? Yeah. For sure.”
For now, Tom Aspinall has said he plans on concentrating on MMA … a wise statement considering he still has two fights left on his contract (which also auto-renews due to a champion’s clause). But if there’s anyone from the UFC roster that we want to see box eventually, it’s Aspinall.
