Ricardo Verhoeven

Ricardo Verhoeven is a Dutch heavyweight professional boxer and high-profile combat athlete who crossed from a decorated kickboxing career into professional boxing. Standing 196 cm with a 200 cm reach, the orthodox-stanced Verhoeven fights out of the Netherlands and carries the ring nicknames King of Kickboxing (formerly “Prince of Kickboxing”). He has a compact pro boxing ledger and has already tested himself at the highest level of the division. Verhoeven’s recorded professional boxing debut came on April 26, 2014, at Mix Fight Gala XV in Darmstadt, Germany, where he stopped János Finfera with a second-round knockout (1:40). That victory remains his only stoppage win in the paid ranks and is the first entry on a boxed record that stands at 1–1 (1 KO). A long gap separates that early outing from the biggest moment of Verhoeven’s boxing career to date. On the local event date of May 23, 2026, he stepped into the ring at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt to challenge Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC World Heavyweight Title in a scheduled 12-round contest promoted as Glory in Giza. The title bout ended in the 11th round when the referee stopped the contest at 2:59, handing Verhoeven a TKO loss and marking his first professional defeat. Reporting around the Usyk fight included some sanctioning nuances: the WBC World Heavyweight Title was on the line, while references to the WBA ‘super’ belt and IBF involvement varied across outlets; available notes indicate Verhoeven would not have been eligible to win the WBA ‘super’ version and that the IBF did not ultimately sanction its belt for the contest. The local date of May 23, 2026 is used here to reflect the promoter’s event date. Outside the ropes of boxing, Verhoeven’s combat-sports profile includes holding and then vacating the GLORY Heavyweight Title on November 20, 2025, a moment that underscores his status as a crossover striker who has competed at elite levels in multiple striking sports. In professional boxing terms he does not hold a recognised world title. Active in the sport with a 1–1 record, Verhoeven’s brief but notable boxing résumé is defined by an early knockout win and a world-title challenge against a top-tier opponent. His size, orthodox stance and background in high-level kickboxing have shaped a professional boxing identity still in its early stages, anchored by that 2026 title shot and the earlier stoppage victory in Germany.