Levi Rigters understands why Rico Verhoeven was booed by some of the audience in Ahoy on Saturday evening. Verhoeven treated the fans to “a high-level chess match” during the title fight, but those present – including Rigters – had hoped for more spectacle.
Shortly after the fight between Verhoeven and the Russian Artem Vakhitov, Ahoy fell silent. There was little enthusiasm from the audience, who had been entertained with a number of sensational fights throughout the evening. Everything was covered during GLORY 100.
Rigters also enjoyed a number of earlier fights, but the duel between Verhoeven and Vakhitov didn’t really appeal to him either. “He was booed, which is really understandable, but he’s just too good for a guy like that. It was another outclassing by Rico. The difference was just too great,” Rigters said next to the ring to NU.nl.
“It wasn’t fun to watch and you hope for more. For example, there were no eight counts. It’s not that I now think: what a great match. But no one can beat Rico.”
Rigters was Verhoeven’s opponent in a title fight at the end of last year, but he too had to acknowledge his superior in ‘The King of Kickboxing’. Verhoeven also won on points in GelreDome then.
“I know how it feels to box against him. They seem like taps, but they all hurt. I just hope for a rematch and that I can handle him well one day,” said Rigters. “But I have lost to him twice in a year, so I shouldn’t shout too much. My time will come.”
The 29-year-old Rigters was not in action on Saturday evening because he struggled with a shoulder injury earlier this year. He could have participated in the Last Heavyweight Standing tournament, an event that is spread over a number of evenings.