Francis Ngannou and Rico Verhoeven have one thing in common: they are both athletes from other combat sports who entered the world of boxing by facing elite-level fighters. Now Jake Paul’s MVP (Most Valuable Promotions) would like to organize a showdown between the two under boxing rules or even MMA rules.
Rico Verhoeven fought heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk last Saturday and performed far beyond pre-fight expectations. The Dutchman managed to reach the end of the eleventh round with the scorecards still hanging in the balance before being caught by a sensational right uppercut that sealed his fate.
Francis Ngannou also came very close to a major upset in October 2023, when he knocked down the “Gypsy King” Tyson Fury in the third round of their fight before eventually losing by split decision. His next appearance in boxing was far less successful, as Anthony Joshua needed only two rounds to knock him out in March 2024.
Now the two could end up facing each other, or at least that seems to be the idea circulating within MVP circles. Jake Paul published a short post about it on X:
“Rico vs Francis MVP / MVP MMA”
The post was later reposted by Francis Ngannou himself, who simply added a monocle emoji, highlighting his interest in the matter.
Nakisa Bidarian, CEO and co-founder of MVP, confirmed the company’s desire to sign the kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven:
“MVP is 100 percent interested in working with Rico on his next outing in boxing or MMA.”
Francis Ngannou congratulated Verhoeven after the latter’s loss to Oleksandr Usyk and did not fail to point out the controversy surrounding the referee’s stoppage, which did not convince everyone:
“Outsiders will never win, trust me I know, but Rico was the winner tonight – period.”
Ngannou has always remained convinced that he was unfairly denied victory against Fury, and today he believes Verhoeven suffered a similar fate, taking a technical knockout that the Dutchman and his team considered premature.
We will see whether Francis and Rico come to an agreement to share the ring.