The Dutchman will face Usyk in Egypt on May 23 in his first boxing match since his four-round debut in April 2014.

Since then, Verhoeven has emerged as arguably the greatest kickboxer of all time, remaining unbeaten for over 12 years during his reign as undisputed heavyweight champion in his sport.

But now he has told The Ring that his move back into boxing is not a simple one-off, exhibition style fight and that he plans to campaign as a boxer once he becomes the first to beat three-time undisputed champion.

“This is 100 percent just the start of my campaign as a boxer,” Verhoeven said.

“I’m here to stay as a boxer and this fight is just the tip of the iceberg, it’s just the start.”

When asked what else he hopes to achieve beyond this fight, he said: “I'm not focused on what's next. What is next after this? I'm the unbeatable guy.

“But for me now I'm just focused on the task that's ahead and that's Oleksandr Usyk. We'll see what happens after. For me, it's just now, this is the task, and I want to rewrite history.”

Unsurprisingly Verhoeven (1-0, 1 KO) has been priced as a 12/1 underdog against Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs), who has proven himself as the greatest heavyweight of the era.

The 39-year-old southpaw has not boxed since he stopped Daniel Dubois in the fifth round of their clash at Wembley Stadium in July in what was widely considered his most destructive performance since he stepped up to heavyweight in 2019.

That was his second victory over Dubois, while he also holds a pair of wins against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. So how does Verhoeven possibly go about beating such a dominant force?

“By being different,” he said.

“My strength is being different. I think he's dissected the sport of boxing to another level. So he knows exactly that if you do this thing, you do this.

“But I'm a kickboxer so I think that's going to be the biggest difference. And especially with the weight difference is as soon as I clip him, he's going to feel that. There's going to be at least a 20 kilogram difference.

“I totally understand the whole situation and the dynamic that we're in. He's like the unbeatable guy. What an opportunity I have to show that he's not that unbeatable.

“It's just a man with two arms and two legs. I'm going to go out there, I'm going to showcase who Rico Verhoeven is.”

It has been confirmed that the fight, history’s first to take place at the foot of the Pyramids, will be for Usyk’s WBC heavyweight title. The decision caused much controversy given that Verhoeven is not ranked by the sanctioning body.

The 37-year-old, dubbed "The King of Kickboxing," understood that response but explained the WBC’s decision.

“When they said it will be for the WBC title. I was super excited,” he said. “And to me it makes sense.

“But I understand that people don't really understand the context. So that’s why I can give them a little bit of context and perspective of what I've done because only the WBC acknowledges kickboxing and has a Muay Thai belt as well. So, they understand my kickboxing credentials.

“For them this makes sense. But I understand if you don't know that, it's easy to say, how does this guy skip the line like that? But I got an amazing track record within the sport of kickboxing.

“I've been so used to the big lights, the big sold-out arenas, all the media attention, the pictures, the interviews. I'm used to that pressure. I'm used to that because I've been doing it for the last decade.

“That's not new. So, I'm putting the pressure on myself to make sure I perform to the best of my ability. I don’t think I'm the big underdog who has nothing to lose. There's definitely something to lose.

“I'm not even thinking about losing. I'm going to win. And when I win, I'll write history.”