Rico Verhoeven: The Prince of kick-boxing’s journey to the top

Mahak Mannan 17:09 06/03/2014
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  • When a six-year-old Rico Verhoeven accompanied his father to the local gym he could never have imagined that the skills he picked up would eventually see him become a world champion.

    Simply eager to spend time with his dad, he would emulate the moves he saw being performed by Verhoeven Sr while taking boxing classes. Before long he wanted to try his hand at a combat sport and was keen to get some gloves of his own.

    From that moment on there was no looking back as Verhoeven’s kick-boxing career soon began to flourish. By 16 he was awarded his first professional contract and just eight years later he is widely regarded as the best heavyweight in kick-boxing after winning the Glory world title.

    Experiencing a considerable amount of success at such an early stage in his career did not come easy for Verhoeven. His impressive performances meant he quickly built a reputation as a future superstar of the sport, but with success came an intense pressure to perform.

    “In the beginning, the pressure made it difficult for me to focus on what I was doing,” explained the imposing 6ft 5” heavyweight champion.

    “I always used to worry about the fact that so many people were watching and that I needed to put in a good performance. That made it difficult for me to perform.

    “So at one point I just said that it does not matter whether the ring is on the street with five people watching or in an arena with thousands in the audience, your performance should stay the same. Since then it has worked out quite well for me and everything has fallen into place.”

    Yet his road to success has been littered with bumps, most not of his own doing. Having originally fought for ‘Showtime”, his talent would soon be spotted by the huge K1 organisation.

    His star was on the rise but after shockingly being left out of the final 16 at the 2012 K1 World Grand Prix, even after he had been assured of a place, Verhoeven choose to walk away from the promotion.

    The fall out with K1 resulted in the Dutch kick-boxer switching allegiances to the quickly-expanding GLORY franchise. He soon established himself as a major threat in the heavyweight division and by the time GLORY 11 was announced, he was in the running to be crowned champion.

    In the course of the tournament, Verhoeven defeated Eroll Zimmerman – the man who had previously knocked him out with one brutal punch – and then fellow Dutchman Gokhan Saki in what was a major upset.

    In a nail-biting final with Daniel Ghita, Verhoeven was awarded a unanimous decision, making him the youngest heavyweight world champion in twenty years.

    Now a targeted man, the 24-year-old admits that self-belief was key in helping him achieve his goal. “I already felt like a champion before winning the title, “said Verhoeven.

    “I trained like a champion and lived like a champion. I eat, sleep, drink kick-boxing, it is my life. I would wake up in the morning, have a good breakfast, and then head for training. It was very much eat, sleep, train for three months prior to the tournament and everything paid off.

    “The feeling of winning it was great; I was very emotional as well. The fact that I was 24 years old and all my dreams came true was just amazing.”

    Following his success, the Prince of kick-boxing – a tag he received during his period in Japan – had the world at his feet. But could he ever be persuaded to switch to the glitz and glamour on offer in the UFC.

    “I am enjoying myself in kick-boxing right now, but who knows what the future holds. I definitely like trying different things and am always challenging myself, pushing the limits. I have been very busy with kick-boxing and GLORY is working very hard to make itself a hit. If this sport gets as big as UFC why should I switch if I’m already the champion?

    “If I do get bored with kick-boxing them perhaps I could, but I don’t think I can get enough of kick-boxing. I have been practicing it for so many years and still love this sport so much, but you never know what kind of offer could come through; we just leave all doors open.”

    For someone whose dreams have come true, Verhoeven is a firm believer that turning your dreams into reality is possible provided you do what you love with the utmost dedication.

    “If you have a dream and want to work hard for it, anything is possible. I was dreaming of becoming a kick-boxing champion when I was six and I just held on to that for all these years. I worked and trained really hard and here I am now.

    “You should never take it as an obligation, always see it as a ‘jobby’ as we call it back home. When your job is your hobby, it’s a jobby and I very much have a jobby. So just enjoy yourself in life and do what you love, then success will definitely follow.”

    Next up for Verhoeven is a trip to the United States in June – in a yet be announced contest – and then he hopes to take a well deserved break.

    “I am definitely excited about my next fight. I have been training, getting myself fit but I hope to take a little over a month off to just relax. I will be training during that period but without any pressure or stress just enjoying it and spending time with the family.”

    To keep up to date with Rico’s fights and seminars follow him on twitter @RicoVerhoeven.

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