Rico Verhoeven enjoyed the four-man tournament at GLORY 77 in Ahoy on Saturday. The heavyweight world champion won the prestige fights of Hesdy Gerges and Tarik Khbabez without having to really go deep for it.
Verhoeven was clearly the better against Gerges in the semifinals and won on points. Later that evening, he also had the upper hand against Khbabez. The Moroccan gave up after the opening round because of a painful hand.
“Hesdy did something completely different than I expected. He just kept moving. Tarik really came to fight, which made it a little easier for me to get through,” said Verhoeven in a brief review of the tournament.
“It was not easy to recharge my batteries for the last fight, but it was beautiful. I enjoyed it. I add all this back to my legacy. I keep saying: the bar is so high for the next generation. I want them to say: I want to become like Rico, but even better. “
Rico Verhoeven was clearly better than Hesdy Gerges in a fight that was most anticipated.
Rico Verhoeven was clearly better than Hesdy Gerges in a fight that was most anticipated.
Photo: ANP
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Verhoeven not impressed by Pereira’s words
Verhoeven was challenged on Saturday by Brazilian Alex Pereira, who took the world title in the light-heavyweight and also already owns the championship belt in the middleweight. However, the Dutchman is not impressed by this.
“There are so many people who challenge me and want to fight me,” he shrugged. “Alex can look back on his fight tonight (he took on the Russian Artem Vakhitov, ed.), Because he still has a long way to go.”
Finally, Verhoeven took the opportunity to address the people at home. “We are going through tough times. There is a lot going on, but I hope you enjoyed it tonight. We all made it a great show.”
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