Kickboxer Verkhoven has appealed the result of his fight with Usyk: what are his arguments?
24 May 19:15
Kickboxer Rico Verhoeven of the Netherlands has stated that he has filed an appeal against the result of his fight against Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing DW.
“An official protest was filed during our trip to the airport. Rules only matter when they are applied at the right moment,” he said. No further details were provided.
A few hours earlier, Verhoeven had lost the bout to Usyk. According to the Dutchman, the referee stopped the fight prematurely after he fell to the canvas following a right uppercut from the Ukrainian, losing his protective headgear, and then, after getting back on his feet, took another series of blows. Referee Mark Lison stopped the fight one second before the end of the 11th round to protect the fighter’s health, as, in his opinion, Verhoeven was “unable to defend himself effectively.”
“Many fans and experts argued that Verhoeven should have been allowed to enter the 12th and final round so he would have a chance at a sensational victory. However, official scorecards later showed that the 37-year-old boxer was nowhere near a victory anyway,” the publication writes.
For his part, Oleksandr Usyk noted during a meeting with Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel who had flown to Egypt for the fight that “this talk of an appeal is pointless.”
As a reminder, this fight earned the Ukrainian one of the largest paydays of his career. According to European media reports, Usyk earned approximately $100 million (€86 million).
For his opponent, Rico Verhoeven, the financial terms were also record-breaking. Although the exact amount earned by the Dutchman has not been disclosed, the boxer himself admitted the day before that this was the largest payday of his life.
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