Rico Verhoeven intends to appeal stoppage loss to Oleksandr Usyk

Rico Verhoeven says he will appeal his stoppage loss to Oleksandr Usyk.

Saturday, at one of the most unique venues ever, in front of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, Verhoeven was seemingly on the verge of creating one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. The Glory kickboxing champion competed in just his second professional boxing bout in a crossover showdown against the consensus best heavyweight champion of the current generation in Usyk.

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The fight appeared to be in Verhoeven’s control until Round 11. That’s when Usyk turned up and dropped Verhoeven. After beating the count, Usyk unloaded another flurry of strikes until the end of the round, lighting up Verhoeven with punches against the ropes. The referee stepped in and waved the fight off with just one round remaining.

Verhoeven immediately protested the stoppage, and after seeing feedback about the moment, feels like he was wronged, and intends to formally appeal the loss.

“I just saw the end because of all the comments I was reading, and they stopped the fight after the bell,” Verhoeven told Boxing News. “So the bell went, and then they stopped the fight. So, yeah, I think we might just go and appeal it because this doesn’t make any sense, right? Like if the bell goes, and then stop the fight – why, you know? Then it’s my time to rest. I got the eight count. It was a good eight count. It was needed, but I felt like because I hear the click, so I’m like, we got like ten seconds. So let’s just keep on the move, hands up, and catch the shots. I feel like that’s what I was doing.

“So for me, that’s why right away when the referee came in, I wasn’t dazzled or whatever. I was looking at the referee and like, ‘Why are you stopping? We’re almost there.’ So, it didn’t make any sense to me. Now, looking back at it, even the bell went. That’s something he should be aware of. Yeah, of course mistakes can be made, but then, you know, looking back at it, the referee should admit his mistake. … It’s either a no contest, or we go to the scorecards. I think if we go to the scorecards, I was ahead.”

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Despite many viewers watching at home and even the unofficial scorecard from Mike Coppinger on the broadcast having Verhoeven comfortably ahead, the official ringside judges had the fight much closer.

Two of the official judges had the fight tied going into Round 11, while another had Verhoeven ahead by just one round. Therefore, if Verhoeven’s appeal results in the fight going to the cards through Round 11, which would have been scored a 10-8 for Usyk due to the knockdown, the outcome would still be a win for Usyk by majority decision.