Hearn, however, remains convinced Joshua would have ended matters much sooner.
“I just believe the difference is AJ punches much differently to Oleksandr Usyk,” Hearn said to Mr. Verzace. “Not just in power, but speed and sharpness. I just feel like Rico would not have been able to stand up to those shots early in 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 four, five, six rounds and Rico’s still coming forward, and he’s holding you and his elbows in the face, and like, don’t get me wrong, it starts to get tough,” said Hearn. “But I actually think the style of Rico was tailor-made for Anthony Joshua.
“A little bit like Francis Ngannou, who came forward in a slight. I mean, Rico was much more unorthodox than Francis Ngannou, but still, the same kind of ungainly, 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 on July 25 against Kristian Prenga as discussions continue surrounding a long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury later this year. The former 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 about how other heavyweight stars might 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.
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