Rick wants Usyk rematch and an apology from the officials after their surprising heavyweight title fight.
By rights he absolutely should get the rematch of course.
And then some.
But we don’t think he will. The fact the heavyweight champion was beaten by a kickboxing champion with just one pro boxing match going into their fight, would have been the biggest shock in all of sports history, literally.
Some things to bare in mind here:
- Rico Verhoeven was stopped by Oleksandr Usyk in round 11
- The stoppage occurred with one second remaining in round 11 by referee Mark Lyson.
- Verhoeven and his team claim he was ahead on the scorecards (reports of 8-2 or 7-3 in his favor entering round 11).
- Verhoeven has publicly demanded a rematch and an apology from officials for the stoppage timing.
- His team has filed an official appeal over the controversial stoppage.
- Anthony Joshua stated Verhoeven “definitely” should have been allowed to continue after the stoppage.
- Many boxing observers and fans called the stoppage premature, arguing the bell had rung or Verhoeven was recovering.
- Usyk overcame a slow start and rallied strongly in the later rounds before the finish.
- Agit Kabayel is a current mandatory challenger, which could block an immediate rematch.
- Verhoeven, a former kickboxing champion with limited pro boxing experience (now 1-1), took Usyk deeper into a fight than many expected.
Of course by rights Rico should get all of the above but we think Usyk will do well to avoid him.
His style didn’t suit Usyk and stuff looks to be going on with Usyk where is isn’t as focused on boxing anymore.
He looked a shell of himself in there.
What you might see though is Rico box someone else in the heavyweight division in boxing at some point.
He brought a whole new audience over from kickboxing and combat sports to boxing as well.
Boxing wins again.
Rico’s stock went up.
Usyk’s way down.
