British heavyweight Dave Allen joined talkSPORT and shared some of his perspective on the recently announced fight between Oleksandr Usyk and kickboxer Rico Verhoeven, which has recently been confirmed as a world title fight by the WBC.
“I know Rico Verhoeven. I actually met him in Bolton,” Allen said. “Lovely fella, did a bit of sparring with him. He’s actually a really good fighter, probably one of the best kickboxers there’s ever been. But this is boxing, isn’t it, and Usyk is probably the best heavyweight
in the last 20 years. So I don’t really like the fight, me. It shouldn’t be sanctioned as a heavyweight [title fight], it should be an exhibition.
“Like, Usyk should give his belts up, let Wardley, Kabayel, all these upcoming heavyweights want a chance to be a heavyweight champion. Let them do that and you can do your exhibitions and that, go and do them elsewhere. I don’t want begrudge him because he’s had an amazing career but don’t do it at the cost of other people’s career as well.”
Allen’s sentiment reflects many across the sport of boxing, fans included, as Usyk has in fact had a tremendous run throughout his career. But the fact that a kickboxer with one professional boxing match under his belt can randomly jump to the top of the heap for a shot at a world title when most fighters spend their lives working towards that opportunity just isn’t something that’s going to sit well with the majority.
