A past foe of Oleksandr Usyk has described the Ukrainian’s battle with Rico Verhoeven as a robbery.
Usyk was defending his heavyweight crown against kickboxing legend Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, in a bout that most believed would be a straightforward outing for the unified champion.
It certainly didn’t unfold that was, as despite being a boxing novice, Verhoeven performed extremely well and caused his rival plenty of problems, with Usyk struggling through large portions of the contest.
With a potential shock points defeat on the horizon, Usyk found a big shot in round 11 that dropped Verhoeven, but while the Dutchman was able to get back to his feet, he received another flurry of shots and referee Mark Lyson decided to jump in and stop the bout.
It is that stoppage that has caused plenty of controversy, as many fans believe Verhoeven should have been allowed to continue, not only because it appears the bell had already rung before the fight was ended.
British heavyweight Derek Chisora, who fought Usyk back in 2020, is one who agrees that it was stopped prematurely, telling ProBoxingFans that Verhoeven was robbed.
“Rico won that fight… It was an early stoppage. They robbed that f**king guy.
“Usyk didn’t lose a step, he hasn’t been in the ring for a while, what happened there was he was taking his time, if he fights this guy again next time he knocks him out.
“I think he didn’t respect him and didn’t realise he was losing. That stoppage was wrong.”
