Rico Verhoeven was supposed to be out of his depth against Oleksandr Usyk. Instead, the kickboxing legend pulled one of boxing’s greatest technicians into the deepest waters he has ever been in. The performance deserved a clean ending. It did not get one.
Rico gave Usyk real problems!
On paper, this matchup almost unfair. And while my predictions on it were right on paper (Over 5.5 rounds, Usyk by TKO), the fight did not go as expected.
Usyk entered as the undefeated heavyweight king, a former cruiserweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. Verhoeven came in with only one professional boxing fight after a legendary career in kickboxing.
That gap was supposed to show immediately. It never did. Rico pressured Usyk from the opening rounds. He stayed in his chest, disrupted his rhythm and forced him to miss counters that usually land clean. His feints kept Usyk guessing, while his physicality made the fight uncomfortable in close range.
For long stretches, Rico looked like more than a crossover fighter. He looked like a real problem.
He landed clean shots, controlled key exchanges and made Usyk work harder than expected. By the late rounds, most fans had him ahead.
The stoppage was horrible!
The controversy exploded in round 11. Usyk hurt Rico with a sharp uppercut and scored a knockdown. Rico beat the count, but his mouthpiece had come out. The referee paused the action to put it back in, which was the correct call during a break.
Then Usyk attacked again. Rico was hurt. There is no denying that. But he was still standing, still defending and still aware enough to fire back. The key issue is the timing.
The bell rang before the final sequence was finished. Usyk continued throwing after the bell, with at least four punches. And anyone who and Rico blocked one of the final shots cleanly. Then the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.
That is where my outrage comes from. The referee ended the fight AFTER the bell, while Rico was still standing on his feet!
Usyk Rico scorecards only made it worse
The judging was another embarrassment to the sport of boxing. The official cards had the fight tied at 95-95 going into round 11. That alone raised eyebrows, because many viewers, including the commentators, and yours truly had Rico ahead.
Round eight was especially hard to understand. Rico appeared to land the cleaner and heavier punches. Under WBC scoring criteria, effective aggression is supposed to matter most. That means clean, powerful, accurate shots should carry more weight than grazing punches or light touches.
Rico had several of those moments. Instead, the judges kept Usyk level. Once the knockdown in the 11th happened, Usyk would have probably gotten a 10-8 round. But the referee’s stoppage ended the fight before Rico had the chance to answer in the final round.
Rico Verhoeven already requested a rematch and is appealing the stoppage.
Was Usyk carrying the fight?
There have been plenty of boxing fans who say that Usyk was just carrying the fight and chose to finish him when the time was right. And Usyk seemed to lean into this talk on X, but this is probably just tongue-in-cheek.
Just remember that the Ukrainian was in real trouble, more trouble than he was versus Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua or Daniel Dubois.
12th round what-ifs
I have seen the counter-argument from Usyk/boxing Stans, that Rico would have been finished in the 12th, therefore the stoppage was justified. Sorry, but that is not how the rules of combat sports work, not in boxing, UFC, or kickboxing. Fights are judged by what actually happens during the LEGAL time, not by what could happen, or what is even probably going to happen. Did you also see that Rico was hit four times after the bell?
Since Rico was still on his feet and defending himself when the round ended, he should have been allowed to return to his corner. Maybe Usyk finishes him in the 12th. Maybe Rico survives and wins a decision. Maybe the final round becomes chaos. Maybe Rico has a Rocky moment of his own and KO’s Usyk. We never got to find out.
Rico was not just fighting Usyk by the end. He was fighting the judges, and the referee who made the worst possible call.
He was robbed of the 12th round, and a chance at boxing greatness.