Tyson Fury Sparring Video Shows Rico Verhoeven Ahead of Usyk Fight

Leaked sparring footage surfaces before Rico Verhoeven challenges Oleksandr Usyk

Previously unseen footage of Tyson Fury sparring Rico Verhoeven has surfaced online ahead of Verhoeven’s WBC heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk. The video shows the Dutch kickboxing champion working rounds with Fury during a 2015 training camp.

Tthe session took place when Fury was preparing for his championship challenge against Wladimir Klitschko. That fight ended with Fury winning the unified heavyweight titles later that year.

The footage offers a rare boxing reference point for Verhoeven, who has spent most of his career in kickboxing and has competed only once as a professional boxer. The upcoming fight with Usyk will place him directly into a heavyweight title bout despite limited experience under boxing rules.

In the video, Fury circles on the outside and works behind his jab while Verhoeven attempts to step forward and close the distance. Fury keeps range with long punches and steady movement, a style that has long defined his heavyweight approach.

Verhoeven holds the center of the ring and looks to land during exchanges, showing the forward pressure that characterized his long run as GLORY heavyweight champion.

The connection between the two fighters extends beyond that sparring session. Fury was trained at the time by his uncle Peter Fury, who is now working in Verhoeven’s corner as he prepares for the challenge against Usyk.

That background gives Verhoeven access to a trainer familiar with championship heavyweight boxing and the demands of twelve-round fights at the highest level.

The fight itself came together through an unusual pathway. Verhoeven had previously been discussed as a possible opponent for Anthony Joshua before those plans changed.

Verhoeven described how the opportunity eventually shifted toward Usyk.

“I finished [shooting a] movie at the beginning of December,” Verhoeven said. “I had already planned a training camp in Spain for the whole month of January because the fight [with Joshua] was going to be February 14. Then the accident happened.”

When that matchup fell away, the conversation moved toward the Ukrainian champion.

“We then came to the gym and my boxing trainer, Peter Fury [the uncle of Tyson Fury], said, ‘Hey, I was thinking , what about fighting Oleksandr Usyk?’” Verhoeven said. “They said one thing: ‘I love it. Let’s do it.’”

Usyk now prepares to defend the WBC heavyweight belt against a challenger coming from a different combat sport. The leaked sparring footage offers a small glimpse of how Verhoeven has previously handled rounds with elite heavyweight boxers before stepping into the title fight.