Hearn, nonetheless, stays convinced Joshua would have ended matters much sooner.
“I just consider the difference is AJ punches much otherwise to Oleksandr Usyk,” Hearn said to Mr. Verzace. “Not only in power, but speed and sharpness. I just feel like Rico wouldn’t have been in a position to rise up to those shots early within the fight.”
Hearn acknowledged the physical challenges Verhoeven could have posed if he survived the opening rounds, but maintained that Joshua’s style would have been decisive.
“Now listen, if it goes 4, five, six rounds and Rico’s still coming forward, and he’s holding you and his elbows within the face, and like, don’t get me mistaken, it starts to get tough,” said Hearn. “But I actually think the form of Rico was tailor-made for Anthony Joshua.
“A bit of bit like Francis Ngannou, who got here forward in a slight. I mean, Rico was rather more unorthodox than Francis Ngannou, but still, the identical sort of ungainly, unorthodox approach would have made too many mistakes, and AJ’s like a sniper in that situation. And I consider he would have knocked him out.”
Joshua is scheduled to return on July 25 against Kristian Prenga as discussions proceed surrounding a long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury later this yr. The previous two-time heavyweight champion has not faced a top-tier heavyweight opponent since suffering a stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois.
Verhoeven’s performance against Usyk nevertheless raised fresh questions on how other heavyweight stars may need 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.
