Rico Verhoeven questions Oleksandr Usyk on the controversial suspension loss

Rico Verhoeven blamed foul play in his fight with Oleksandr Usyk before the final bell rang. The anger of Usyk’s controversial 11th round victory has dissipated since the weekend, but Verhoeven’s allegations came early in the fight.

Usyk vs. Verhoeven was seen as a big-budget carnival act in front of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Syk was expected to have his way with Verhoeven. That’s no disrespect to Verhoeven, arguably the greatest champion in Glory Kickboxing history. But he was a rookie boxer against the best heavyweight boxer of his generation.

Verhoevn far exceeded expectations, taking the fight to Usyk from the start. Verhoeven believes he is ahead, a sentiment shared by viewers enough to fuel speculation about the extraterrestrials at play. This fight featured an unusual scoring system that was rarely used. Verhoeven was concerned when he was informed of the judges’ figures for the four rounds.

“There were open score cards, and after four [rounds]we got the scorecards, and we were like, ‘Hey, we’re ready. Hmm, OK.’ I felt like I was at least three to one, but it’s okay, we’re ready, it’s okay,” Verheven told Uncrown. “Then we got the scorecards again after four more rounds.”

Verhoeven’s concerns were not addressed as the war progressed. Expecting to have a reasonable lead in the eight rounds, the open scoring strengthened his suspicions.

“After Round 8, and we were like that. You’re like, ‘Hmm, this — I don’t know. It’s starting to feel fishy because I feel like I’m winning these rounds,'” Verhoeven said. “I work a lot. I get hit a little bit, and I hit him and touch him more than he hits me, so maybe you have to push it a little bit more to look at it through the lens of defensive boxing.’

“Then maybe because I’m an outsider, I have to do that extra work to believe more. But we saw in the commentary, in Round 10, [the commentary team was scoring the fight] like eight to two [for me]instead of going up in equity.”

The beginning of the end came after Usyk landed a striking uppercut in Round 11. The punch left Verhoeven hanging from the bottom rope. The importance of the trial may have contributed to the referee’s fear of allowing the fight to go on for too long. Verhoeven says he has overcome adversity many times, and should have been given more latitude against Usyk.

“Looking back, I got it [hit by] uppercut,” he said. “For people who know my fights, I’ve been knocked out many times in different types of fights, championship fights. And what I do is I get up, and no matter how much time is left on the clock, I get up, and I end up winning.

“So it was logical, because I stood up, my mouth was out, they put it back. But I heard [the bell]. ‘OK good. Only 10 seconds left. So let me put my hands up, and let me get to round 12.’

Verhoeven answered the question and, after a delay in regaining his composure, was allowed to continue. Usyk immediately poured on the pressure with about 10 seconds left in the semi-final round. Verhoeven was confident he could pull it off until the bell rang. The seconds felt inexplicably long for Verhoeven, who closed in the corner in the face of a barrage of incoming strikes. The referee intervened one to two seconds after the bell. It should have signaled the end of Round 11. Instead, referee Mark Lyson waved off the fight.

“These 10 seconds are taking a long time now,” Verhoeven said. “Then [Lyson] I jumped in. I said, ‘Okay, the round is over.’ He says, ‘No, it’s over.’ What do you mean it’s over? ‘No, no, no, it’s over.’ But why? ‘No, no, no, stop me.’ I was like, ‘What’s going on here?’ So for me, it was a miracle.

“I raised my hands and I’m responding, I’m not going or anything, they just waved. What?”

The result caused an immediate backlash online. The suspension was undoubtedly bad, but the fever around it has more to do with the sight. Usyk was a 23-to-1 betting favorite going to Egypt. The fierce competition of the fight, coupled with the reaction of the broadcast team, painted a picture of Verhoeven’s dominance. Many commentators watching at home believed that the fight was very close. Their learning was in line with the judges.

After the tenth round, two judges scored the fight 96-94 Verhoeven, and one judge scored the fight 95-95. A Round 11 knockout would have put Usyk slightly ahead heading into the final round with momentum behind the joint heavyweight champion.

Still, Verhoeven undoubtedly deserved the final round of shocking the world. The early stoppage robbed everyone of a fitting conclusion to 2026’s most spectacular fight.

“To be honest, I deserved — and the fans deserved — to see that round of 12. Whatever the outcome,” he said. “Yes, but all the thoughts come back: ‘Yes, but you wouldn’t survive that.’ There’s no what-if, you know? …

“It’s impossible. So, stop that-if. Let’s focus on the things that happened and how we judge that and how we talk about it, and let’s move on from that.”