However, Hearn remains convinced that Joshua would have ended things much sooner.
“I think the only difference is that AJ hits a lot differently than Oleksandr Usyk,” Hearn told Mr. Verzace said. “Not just in power, but speed and sharpness. I just feel like Rico wouldn’t be able to stand up to those shots early in the fight.”
Hearn acknowledged the physical challenges Verhoeven could pose if he survived the opening rounds, but insisted Joshua’s style would be decisive.
“Now listen, if it goes four, five, six rounds and Rico keeps coming forward, and he keeps you in the face and his elbows, and like, don’t get me wrong, it starts to get tough,” Hearn says. “But I actually think the style of Rico was tailor-made for Anthony Joshua.
“A little bit like Francis Ngannou, who came out a little bit. I mean, Rico was a lot more unorthodox than Francis Ngannou, but still, the same kind of clumsy, unorthodox approach would have made too many mistakes, and AJ’s like a sniper in that situation. And I believe he would have knocked him out.”
Joshua is scheduled to return against Kristian Prenga on July 25 as talks continue about a long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury later this year. The former two-time heavyweight champion hasn’t faced a top-tier heavyweight opponent since suffering a stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois.
Verhoeven’s performance against Usyk nonetheless raised new questions about how other heavyweight stars would have handled the Dutch kickboxing icon had similar crossover opportunities materialized.
Hearn, for his part, has no doubts about how Joshua’s version of that fight would have ended.
