Rico Verhoeven is questioning if the fix was indeed in following his stoppage loss to Oleksandr Usyk this past Saturday.
Verhoeven and heavyweight champion Usyk collided with the WBA, WBC, and IBF gold at stake in Giza. Verhoeven gave Usyk significant problems throughout the fight. Some had the score totals wide in favor of Verhoeven, while more longtime boxing pundits saw the fight as close as the judges did prior to the finish.
Verhoeven ended up being knocked down in the 11th round. He got back up and withstood Usyk’s barrage, but the referee stopped the bout after the bell had already rung.
Furthermore, only one judge had Verhoeven ahead on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Appearing on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” the kickboxing legend questioned how the judges were scoring the fight (h/t MMAJunkie).
“There were open scorecards, and after four rounds, we’re like, ‘Hey, we’re even.’ I felt like I was at least 3-1, but OK, that’s fine,” Verhoeven said. “Then we get the scorecards again after another four rounds, so after Round 8, and still we were even. Hmm, I don’t know. It’s starting to feel fishy. I feel like I’m winning these rounds. I’m working more. I’m getting hit less, and I’m touching him more than he’s hitting me, so maybe I have to push it a little bit more. It’s getting looked at through a protective boxing lens. Maybe because I am an outsider, maybe I have to put in that extra work to be even more convincing. Like we saw in the commentary stats, at Round 10, I was like 8-2 instead of going up equal.”
Whether or not a rematch between Verhoeven and Usyk will materialize remains to be seen. If nothing else, the former Glory Kickboxing champion has opened the door for at least one more lucrative boxing match in the future.
Do you think the fix was in all along against Rico Verhoeven? Sound off in the comments below.