Rico Verhoeven has been told he was saved from a 'brutal and dangerous' knockout in his contentious defeat to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night. That is according to the Ukrainian's sporting director, Sergey Lapin, who believes the referee did the right thing by stepping in and waving off the heavyweight contest in the 11th round.
Fight Recap
Last weekend, Verhoeven was making the walk to the professional boxing ring for the second time in his career against the two-time undisputed heavyweight king. From the off, fans were left stunned when the former kickboxing icon ramped up the pace and controlled proceedings in the early exchanges. Many argued the Dutch scrapper was en route to handing Usyk his first loss of his professional career, before the Ukrainian sent Verhoeven crashing to the canvas in the penultimate round.
Verhoeven eventually got back to his feet, but took some more damage, before the referee eventually stepped in and called off the clash. Many within the boxing fraternity argued that the fight should have gone on, seeing as there was only a second of the round left to go.
Referee's Decision Defended
Despite the contentious stoppage, what was even more surprising was that Verhoeven was only ahead on one of the three judges' scorecards. Many will argue about the way in which the bout over in Egypt ended, but Lapin believes the referee did the right thing by stepping in. Speaking to Betpack, he said: "The referee did his job and protected Rico’s health. It was the right and professional moment to stop the fight. People need to understand one thing: at this level, one extra punch can affect a fighter’s entire future and health. The fight was already moving toward a very difficult ending for Rico. If the referee had allowed it to continue, the ending could have been much more brutal and dangerous."
Verhoeven's Reaction
Just days on from the clash, Verhoeven revealed he thought he had a commanding lead over Usyk before the fight was stopped. "There were open scorecards and after four rounds, they said we're even," he told the Ariel Helwani Show. "I was like, 'Hmm, ok.' I felt like it was at least three to one, but ok, we're even, that's fine. Then we got the scorecards again after another four rounds and still we were even. It started to feel fishy because I felt like I was winning these rounds. I was working more, I was getting hit less, so maybe I have to push it a little bit more." Asked how he had scored the fight after 10 rounds, Verhoeven added: “Somewhere 8-2. I look at certain rounds, and I’m like, ‘How did I lose that?’ He didn’t even touch me, maybe more than once or twice, and I hit him four, five, six times.”
Appeal Filed
The 37-year-old has already lodged an appeal against his defeat by Usyk. He recently posted an image to his social media pages showing his manager filing an appeal with the caption: "Official protest has been filed on our way to the Airport. Rules only matter if they are applied when it matters most." After the fight, Verhoeven had said: "I thought it was an early stoppage. It’s not up to me. I believe the referee knows that we’re almost at the end of the round, or let me go out on my shield or let the bell go…it was close and I thought we were equal on the scorecards."
