Kickboxing legend admits interest and reveals talks to face Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou in his professional boxing debut. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter @trboxing

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Former UFC champion, current PFL champion and with two fights against former world boxing champions on his resume, Francis Ngannou may have a legend from another sport as his next opponent in his career. GLORY heavyweight champion and kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven expressed interest and admitted negotiations to fight the Cameroonian.

In an interview with 'MMA Fighting', the Dutch heavyweight revealed talks with Saudi Arabia to face Francis Ngannou in noble art.

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“Talks are happening. We’ve been talking to Saudi Arabia for different fights. It was fun that Francis Ngannou was the name that came up, but we were already talking before that. I'm excited for what the future holds and open to all kinds of fun,” Verhoeven said.

GLORY champion since 2017, Rico Verhoeven has no experience in professional boxing, but guarantees that the transition would not be a problem, as he trains with Peter Fury, uncle of Tyson Fury, many years ago.

“For me it wouldn’t even be a transition. I’ve been boxing for many years. I’ve been training with Peter Fury for years. He’s my boxing coach. I’m ready,” he assured.

Finally, Verhoeven assured that, although he recognizes that kickboxing does not receive as much attention as boxing and MMA, he believes it is on the same level, or even above Francis Ngannou in terms of skill.

“Francis is a big name, but I’m a big name too. I’ve been dominating the sport for over a decade like no one else has. Why isn’t my name there? Because kickboxing is not as big a platform as boxing and MMA, but in terms of quality of fighting, I’m at the same level or above. If you’re open to testing, let’s test. I’m here. Show me what you’ve got,” he concluded.

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