By: Sean Crose
It’s been going on for years now – the phenomena of novelty boxing matches, where well known fighters square off against fighters generally looking for either a pay day or some last moment of glory. MMM legends versus world class boxers, MMA legends versus social media influencers, great boxers of yore fighting well beyond their sell by dates, it’s a circus that sometimes borders on the tragic – if so much money wasn’t involved. Yup – these novelty matchups can bring in a lot of eyeballs. Sure enough they are often in line to be the most watched combat sporting events of the years in which they take place.
Most of these novelty matches make a lot of financial sense for the parties involved. For the underdogs, who almost always lose, there’s a pot of gold to be found at the end of that rather bruising rainbow. And for the fighter representing boxing’s current establishment, it’s all easy money. The truth is that these fights tend to be very predictable: the over the hill boxer or the inexperienced boxer gets bested (sometimes in brutal fashion) while the member of current boxing royalty picks up an enormous and easily earned paycheck.
One thing that wasn’t entirely predictable at all was heavyweight kingpin Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to engage in a novelty fight himself. In a sport that can sometimes make itself clownish, Usyk has been a standard bearer for the seriousness of his profession. Where some of his peers like Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder may like to clown around a bit, Usyk takes the entire endeavor of boxing seriously, not that he doesn’t have a good sense of humor. He actually does. No one ever questions his dedication however, because the guy approaches every fight as if it’s his last.
That’s why it struck many as odd when Usyk announced that he’d be fighting Rico Verhoeven in Egypt of all places in a major pay-per-view event. Usyk always gave the impression that he rolled his eyes at such endeavors. Here he is though about to engage with one of the world’s greatest kickboxers. The thing is…. when one thinks about it, Usyk has every right in the world to engage in a novelty fight of his own. He’s been an undisputed cruiserweight champion, then an undisputed heavyweight champion, has defeated the absolute best in the business and has shown just how skilled an athlete a professional boxer can be.
And while there’s little doubt that Usyk will win Saturday’s fight literally in front of the pyramids, there is also little doubt that the man won’t be making a career of facing undeserving opponents. Sure enough, Usyk has made it clear that he intends to retire soon so he wants to get in on some of the gravy train while the going is good. And really who can blame them? Again, he’s fought everybody in his way, is from a war-torn country, and has done nothing if not make the sport look more reputable than it probably deserves.
So Usyk has earned the right for Saturday’s throwdown. Provided he doesn’t look terrible or actually get beat, it will be soon forgotten. With just a few opponents left to line up after Saturday, the focus will be on who he will fight next. There’s nothing novel about that, especially when it comes to someone like Usyk, whose wrapping up his legacy as perhaps one of the greatest in the heavyweight division. Of course that’s up for history to decide. Boxing fans can get wrapped up in the moment, whether there’s any novelty involved in it or not.
