Rico Verhoeven has paid tribute to his late mother by recreating a picture of her at the Pyramids of Giza ahead of his fight against Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday.
Kickboxing great Verhoeven will face unified heavyweight champion Usyk at the foot of the Pyramids in an intriguing crossover boxing bout with the WBC heavyweight title up for grabs.
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The pair faced off in front of the ancient landmark earlier this week, with Verhoeven also taking the chance to pose for a photograph in the same place his mother did over 30 years ago.
Having revealed that she died while he was in camp, Verhoeven said he came across the pictures shortly after she passed away.
"Within this camp, my mother passed away. How is it a positive thing? It is not. But, I have to do something with it to make it easier for me to cope with," Verhoeven told Matchroom Boxing.
"She passed away and we had to clean out her house, and what happened is, we came by pictures of her being in Egypt. Like, how crazy is that?
"I wanted to recreate that exact picture. I wanted to be in that spot where she was 30 years prior. Being there was... I don't know, man, it was just... it was so special. It was so special."
Verhoeven shared the images on Instagram, with the caption: "Dear mom, here in Egypt thinking about you. With tears in my eyes I'm writing this because I miss you.
"I feel your presence, thank you for being my guardian angel. You and dad better be watching next week. But I know you will and you'll protect me. We'll see each other again. I love you."
