Usyk vs. Rico: Dutchman seeks rematch and apology from officials

A win for Verhoeven would have arguably surpassed James ‘Buster’ Douglas’ shock win over Mike Tyson in 1990 as the biggest upset in boxing history.

Both corners were scored After eight rounds under an open scoring system, with competition level. Verhoeven – who felt he should be ahead on the cards – said the fight took a significant emotional toll as it moved into the championship round.

Trained by Peter Fury for over a decade, Verhoeven is no stranger to elite level fighting and preparation.

Fury has since said he was on the same flight as referee Mark Lyson and the official told him he did not hear the bell to signal the end of the 11th round.

Verhoeven himself said he didn’t hear the bell until about 10 seconds before the end of the round, only the sound of applause.

“I knew Usyk was going to push it and I knew we were already there, so I just got on defense and tried to get it out. And then the referee jumped.

“He didn’t just take it from me, he took it from Usyk. If he had the opportunity to knock me out in the 12th round, he would have done it to settle the fight without controversy.

“It’s weird because I’ve been knocked out multiple times before in other championship fights and still come back to win. I know that’s one of my superpowers. I can get hurt, recover and come back.

“There are so many opinions and things to say – like ‘What if he knocked you out in the 12th round?’

“But no, we can’t look into the future. We can’t predict anything. If we had listened to all the predictions, I wouldn’t have gotten through the first half of the fight, and I did.”