{"id":93775,"date":"2026-05-24T03:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T03:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/rico-verhoeven-issues-first-statement-after-controversial-oleksandr-usyk-loss-disputed-referee-stoppage\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T03:23:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T03:23:00","slug":"rico-verhoeven-issues-first-statement-after-controversial-oleksandr-usyk-loss-disputed-referee-stoppage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/rico-verhoeven-issues-first-statement-after-controversial-oleksandr-usyk-loss-disputed-referee-stoppage\/","title":{"rendered":"Rico Verhoeven issues first statement after controversial Oleksandr Usyk loss, disputed referee stoppage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rico Verhoeven wants his shot at redemption against boxing\u2019s pound-for-pound king.<\/p>\n

Verhoeven, a kickboxing legend and former GLORY Kickboxing heavyweight champion, called for a rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in his first remarks Saturday following the chaotic end<\/a> to the pair\u2019s WBC heavyweight title clash. Fighting amid a backdrop of Egypt\u2019s Pyramids of Giza, Verhoeven nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, matching Usyk punch-for-punch and winning on many observers\u2019 scorecards before referee Mark Lyson controversially stopped the contest late in the 11th round<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Verhoeven\u2019s full statement:<\/p>\n

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Leave emotions out of it. Read the cards. One second left heading into the 12th and final round. Onwards and upwards! Respect to [Usyk], it was an honor to share the ring with you. Let\u2019s run it back! [Turki Alalshikh]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Verhoeven was more than a +1500 underdog on some sportsbooks entering Saturday\u2019s title contest, and it makes sense why. Despite his war chest of kickboxing accolades, the 37-year-old Dutchman was just 1-0 as a professional boxer, whereas Usyk strolled into Egypt as a two-division undisputed world champion, Olympic gold medalist and the No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the sport<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet not only did Verhoeven (1-1, 1 KO) surprise with his performance, he legitimately shocked the sporting world by outboxing Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs) from the opening bell. <\/p>\n

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Verhoeven\u2019s surreal assault on history crashed into a brick wall, however, when Usyk rallied late into the contest. The Ukrainian knocked Verhoeven down in the closing seconds of the 11th round, and though Verhoeven rose to his feet, referee Lyson stunningly stopped the bout at the round\u2019s conclusion, awarding Usyk the Hail Mary victory under a cloud of controversy.<\/p>\n

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The bell rang \u2026 and then it was stopped. WTF.<\/p>\n

There are bad stoppages. And then there is this disgrace. pic.twitter.com\/VrL27ttsbn<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 23, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Usyk was expected to defend his WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles against WBC interim champion Agit Kabayel next, however, Saturday\u2019s result \u2014 and the stunning way in which it occurred \u2014 leaves the immediate future for the 39-year-old suddenly in question.<\/p>\n

For more on <\/strong><\/a>Usyk vs. Verhoeven, check out Uncrowned's fight night hub.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rico Verhoeven wants his shot at redemption against boxing\u2019s pound-for-pound king. Verhoeven, a kickboxing legend and former GLORY Kickboxing heavyweight champion, called for a rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in his first remarks Saturday following the chaotic end to the pair\u2019s WBC heavyweight title clash. Fighting amid a backdrop of Egypt\u2019s Pyramids of Giza, Verhoeven nearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[46,3049,7870,36,2874,190,25403,23149,3016,695,25844,23914,22675],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93775"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93775\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}