Two Dutch heavyweight combat sports legends are reportedly in talks
to meet.
Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Alistair
Overeem and longtime Glory heavyweight champion Rico
Verhoeven are in negotiations for a boxing match in Amsterdam,
per a new report.
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Alistair Overeem and Rico Verhoeven reportedly negotiating
heavyweight boxing showdown in Amsterdam
Black Book PR, which represents Overeem, shared a post from popular
boxing news outlet Boxing.media on their Instagram stories, drawing
attention to the potential matchup. The post claims Overeem and
Verhoeven, who were scheduled to square off on two previous
occasions, could finally lock horns in a boxing match at Johan
Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam.
The post further claims that the boxing clash will be the first of
three bouts, with the two heavyweights then competing in MMA and
kickboxing.
Overeem hasn’t competed in the UFC since his 2021 loss to Alexander
Volkov. He fought Badr Hari in
kickboxing under the Glory banner in 2022, initially winning via
decision before it was overturned to a no-contest after he tested
positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
Meanwhile, Verhoeven, who has one professional MMA bout and win on
his record, is widely regarded as one of kickboxing’s most
accomplished heavyweights. He’s unbeaten in his last 22 kickboxing
bouts and took on Oleksandr Usyk in his most recent combat sports
outing, getting finished in the last second of their boxing clash
in May, which has since garnered much criticism for the
stoppage.