Rico Verhoeven says he will appeal his loss to Oleksandr Usyk after the fight was stopped in a controversial way.
Rico Verhoeven has shared that he plans to officially appeal the controversial ending of his fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
On Saturday night, Usyk, a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion, made a historic return to the ring in front of the famous pyramids of Giza, Egypt. He fought kickboxing star Verhoeven, who got a chance to go for Usyk’s WBC heavyweight title despite having only one pro boxing fight before.
Many expected Verhoeven to struggle since Usyk has a lot of experience facing top fighters like Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Daniel Dubois. But Verhoeven surprised everyone with an impressive performance, with many experts thinking he was ahead on points going into the last rounds after dominating early on.
However, near the end of the 11th round, Usyk landed a powerful uppercut that knocked Verhoeven down, then followed with another hit that made referee Mark Lyson stop the fight with just seconds left in the round.
Right after the stoppage, fans and experts questioned the referee’s call. Many thought the fight was stopped too early and that Verhoeven deserved a chance to recover and fight on in the 12th round, especially given how well he was doing before.
Adding to this, videos shared from ringside seemed to show that the fight was stopped after the bell signaling the end of the round.
Because of all this, Verhoeven said he will push to have the result changed by filing an official appeal once he’s recovered.
“They stopped the fight after the bell. I think we’re just going to file an appeal because it doesn’t make sense,” Verhoeven told Boxing News.
“When the ref stepped in, I wasn’t dazed or anything. I looked at him and wondered why he was stopping it. We were so close to the end. It’s really unfair. The referee should know what he’s doing. Mistakes happen, of course, but he needs to admit it. I hope they review the footage and either declare the fight a ‘no contest’ or check the judges’ scorecards. If they go to the scorecards, I was winning at that point.”
If Verhoeven’s appeal is successful, it’s very likely he will get an immediate rematch with Usyk later this year.
Even if he chooses not to appeal or if it doesn’t work out, Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has shown interest in a rematch, so there’s still a good chance we’ll see the two fight again.
However, right after the fight, there was talk of Usyk facing Agit Kabayel, the top contender and WBC’s mandatory challenger. Usyk must fight Kabayel or risk losing his WBC title.
“Agit is the interim WBC champion and next in line. Usyk now either has to fight him or give up the title, it’s that simple,” Kabayel’s promoter, Frank Warren, said on X after the fight.