Verhoeven questioned the scoring during the heavyweight title fight and says he deserved the twelfth round before the stoppage
Rico Verhoeven says the scoring during his controversial fight against Oleksandr Usyk “started feeling fishy” as the heavyweight crossover star continued challenging last Saturday’s stoppage in Egypt. Verhoeven believes he was winning large portions of the fight before the referee stepped in late in the eleventh round.
“After round eight and still we even, you’re like, ‘This starts to feel fishy,’ because I feel like I’m winning these rounds,” Verhoeven said on The Ariel Helwani Show.
“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.”
Verhoeven said he began feeling like the fight was being viewed differently because he entered as a crossover fighter from kickboxing.
“It’s getting looked at through a protective boxing lens,” Verhoeven said. “Maybe because I’m an outsider, I have to put in that extra work to be even more convincing.”
The 36-year-old said he rewatched the fight and still believes he was leading comfortably before the late stoppage.
“Somewhere 8-2,” Verhoeven said when asked how he scored the fight going into the 11th round.
“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.”
Verhoeven was dropped late in the 11th round by an uppercut but says he was fully capable of continuing. The fight was waved off moments later in a stoppage that drew criticism from fans and fighters.
“I deserved, and the fans deserved to see that 12th round,” Verhoeven said.
Despite the loss, Verhoeven says he wants an immediate rematch with Usyk and has already appealed the result to the Middle East Professional Boxing Commission.
