Peter Fury has revealed his conversation with referee Mark Lyson after Rico Verhoeven’s controversial stoppage loss to Oleksandr Usyk in Egypt on Saturday.
Ex-kickboxing champion, Verhoeven looked on course to pull off a famous upset until he was dramatically dropped by Usyk and then waved off by Lyson in the 11th round, just as the bell sounded at the Pyramids of Giza.
Verhoeven’s trainer, Fury was on the same flight back to the UK as the referee on Sunday, who claimed he did not hear the bell go.
“Did the referee get it wrong? Absolutely,” Fury told IFLTV.
“The referee was on the flight with me on the way back, so I spoke to him.
“The best way to sort any dispute is to ask the question to the person who’s done it.
“I said, ‘you’ve made a mistake.’
“And he said to me which is very important, ‘Peter, I didn’t hear the bell.’
“Now that I believe, because I didn’t hear the bell either.
“I told him I believed he made a mistake.
“We shook hands, it’s a sport, it’s boxing and it is what it is.
“I think he realised he made a mistake.
“He said, ‘I done what I thought I had to do. He was shaky and I’m there to protect the fighter.’”
Despite many believing the Dutchman had a clear lead prior to the stoppage, two judges had the fight a draw with another having Verhoeven up at the time the bout was halted.
Usyk retained his unified heavyweight world titles and faced off with WBC interim champion, Agit Kabayel after the fight.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed to Pro Boxing Fans that Kabayel requires his shot at Usyk before any rematch with Verhoeven, who fought as a professional boxer for just the second time.
Sulaiman also confirmed that Verhoeven will receive a ranking by the WBC following his sublime effort against the two-time undisputed heavyweight champion.
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