Rico Verhoeven has officially suggested he will appeal his eleventh-round TKO loss to Oleksandr Usyk, claiming the referee waved the fight off after the bell had already sounded to end the round.
In the aftermath of Saturday’s stunning heavyweight clash at the Pyramids of Giza—a fight that saw the lifelong kickboxer push the undisputed champion to the absolute limit—Verhoeven told Boxing News that a review of the footage has convinced his team they have grounds to overturn the result.
“I just saw the end because all the comments I was reading, and they stopped the fight after the bell,” Verhoeven said. “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?”
The controversial sequence occurred in the final seconds of the 11th round. Usyk (25-0) caught Verhoeven with a vicious uppercut, sending the Dutchman to the canvas . Verhoeven beat the count and was under a final barrage from the champion when referee Mark Lyson stepped in to halt the action. The official time of the stoppage was recorded at 2:59 of the round—just one second before the bell .
However, replays and audio broadcasts appear to show the horn sounding simultaneously with the referee’s intervention, leading to the current dispute .
“I was looking at the referee like, why are you stopping? We’re almost there,” Verhoeven explained, noting that he was defending himself intelligently against the ropes. “Looking back at it, even the bell went. That’s something he should be aware of.”
The Numbers That Fuel the Fire
The controversy is amplified by the official scorecards. Through the first ten rounds, two judges had the fight scored even at 95-95, while a third judge had Verhoeven ahead 96-94 .
Had the referee allowed the bell to ring and the fight to proceed to the 12th and final round, the dynamics would have shifted. With the knockdown in the 11th, Usyk would likely have taken a lead on two cards. However, Verhoeven argues he was robbed of the chance to recover and fight the championship rounds .
“I think if we go to the scorecards, I was ahead,” Verhoeven asserted, suggesting that a potential remedy for the appeal could be to rule the bout a No Contest or revert to the judges’ scorecards after 11 completed rounds .
What’s Next?
Usyk retains his WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight titles with the victory, but the ending has cast a shadow over what was supposed to be a routine defense . While Usyk stated post-fight that he would be open to a rematch, the WBC is reportedly eager to move forward with mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel .
Despite the loss, Verhoeven (1-1 in boxing) made a massive statement, landing 113 of 508 punches compared to Usyk’s 112 of 499 . The kickboxing king says he has “found a new passion” and intends to stay in the sport regardless of the appeal’s outcome.
“I hope I surprised and shocked the boxing world because I’m here to stay,” Verhoeven said .
For now, the boxing world waits to see if the Egyptian commission will entertain the appeal or if the controversial finish will simply go down as one of the strangest endings in recent heavyweight history .
