LONDON — Oleksandr Usyk offered an explanation Tuesday for why he's giving kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven a shot at his WBC heavyweight title.

"One time, I want to do what I want," the 39-year-old Usyk said at a news conference.

The undefeated Ukrainian's WBA and IBF belts won't be on the line when he faces the 37-year-old Dutch kickboxer in a 12-round bout on May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

Usyk, who hasn't fought since a fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium last July, said "a lot of people" have asked him why he's fighting a novice, while the likes of Agit Kabayel — the WBC interim champion — waits in the wings.

"(Verhoeven's) a great guy, a dangerous guy," said Usyk, who is currently 24-0, with 15 KOs.

"A lot of the time, I do what other people (demand).

"I say OK, OK, OK — now, I do what I (want)."

Verhoeven is confident he can put Usyk down.

The 6-foot-5 Verhoeven won his only bout as a boxer, which was in 2014. He was a longtime heavyweight kickboxing champion.

He was asked how he'll accomplish what no other pro boxer has been able to do — beat Usyk.

"I'm going to bring kickboxing angles, bring a different type of puzzle," Verhoeven said.

"I'm a big unit. I'm like 125 kilos."

Usyk, a former cruiserweight champion, fights at under 104 kilograms and has beaten an array of larger opponents, including Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

"When I land my best punch on him, of course he will go down," Verhoeven said. "He's like a built-up cruiserweight, while I'm like a naturally born heavyweight. So, that's a big difference.

"That's what's going to happen if I land my best shot clean, and, if not, we're just going to win."

Usyk simply responded with:"We'll see."

Earlier in the session, Usyk had said "size doesn't matter", and that he just needs to train and eat.

"Hard training and good pasta — good pasta, double portion. It's magic," he said.

Verhoeven also name-dropped British action star Jason Statham as "one of the people that initiated this opportunity, so super thankful to him".

Usyk was also asked to predict what will happen if Fury and Joshua finally meet in the ring: "AJ win. It's the future undisputed champion," he replied with confidence.

Joshua, Fury fight likely

Fury returned from his latest retirement to beat Arslanbek Makhmudov in a unanimous decision victory on Saturday, before calling out Joshua, who was seated ringside, to fight him next.

Joshua didn't commit on Saturday, but told Netflix that "contracts will be sent over. You'll probably see us in the ring".

Following the bout, Netflix announced on social media that the richest fight in British boxing history had been agreed between Fury and Joshua.

Eddie Hearn, Joshua's promoter, said that the streaming service had jumped the gun, but he is confident the fight will happen.

Joshua first needs to get back in the ring for a warm-up fight after his victory over YouTube star Jake Paul in December in his only appearance in 19 months.

"We received the contracts at the end of last week for their proposal of the two fights, and we've been going back and forward, and we continue to do that," Hearn said.

"My instructions from AJ are to make the fight happen, and that's what we'll be trying to do.

"I wouldn't really say there are sticking points, but, obviously, when you receive a contract, it's very natural to go back with a lot of stuff.

"It's nothing major, a little bit about who he fights in July, when he fights, where the fight is going to be.

"Fury was trying to palm it off that we've had our warm-up fight against Jake Paul, which I thought was a bit cheeky, but I expect us to fight someone of the same kind of level as Makhmudov and then fight Fury.

"The deal that we've been offered is not to fight Tyson Fury straight away, and that's our preferred option.

"We're happy with that and we expect to be out in July and then fight Fury in November."

Agencies