Rico Verhoeven is in the thick of talks about significant heavyweight fights, after being intriguingly suggested as an opponent for Oleksandr Usyk.
"I want to see him against Oleksandr Usyk," Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, surprisingly posted to social media about Verhoeven.
"That is the challenge I've been waiting for," Verhoeven responded. "Undisputed vs. undisputed, one round boxing, one round kickboxing. Lets see if we can get to 12."
The kickboxing great vacated his Glory championship after a 12-year reign in November but is far from retired from combat sports, sources told ESPN.
Verhoeven is preparing for his next step by training in Spain and is having conversations at the top of the fight game since concluding his filming in December for the "Road House 2" movie, sources told ESPN.
He hasn't confirmed whether he will seek a transition to MMA or boxing.
Verhoeven's name first cropped up in boxing circles when he was put forward as a possible opponent for Anthony Joshua, in the postfight news conference after the Brit's win against Jake Paul.
Promoter Eddie Hearn did not rule out Verhoeven as a potential rival, but Joshua's boxing plans have since been sidelined after his involvement in a tragic car accident.
Usyk, meanwhile, has no obvious next fight. He made clear his wish to face Deontay Wilder this year, but the fearsome former WBC champion is instead fighting Derek Chisora in London on April 4.
IBF, WBA and WBC champion Usyk worked with Alalshikh's Riyadh Season for two victories over Tyson Fury. He was negotiating with a US-based promoter, his manager Egis Klimas told The National in December, but it is unclear how those plans might have changed since Wilder's decision to fight Chisora.
Usyk hasn't ever fought an opponent from outside of his division's conventional contenders.
Francis Ngannou crossed over from UFC to fight Fury and Joshua, while Jake Paul fought Joshua after coming through the influencer boxing scene.
Verhoeven, a 36-year-old Dutchman, is undefeated in the past decade in kickboxing's heavyweight division.
He has fought, and won, one each in boxing and MMA but never committed himself fully to either sport.
"It's not a goodbye, it's an 'until we meet again,'" he teased when vacating his Glory kickboxing title late last year.
