Rico Verhoeven lost to Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC heavyweight title after being dropped late in the 11th round and then stopped by the referee with one second left. Verhoeven said the stoppage was controversial. He also questioned the open scorecards, which were revealed after every four rounds. After the first four rounds, he found the scorecards even despite believing he was ahead. After eight rounds, the scorecards were still even, which he felt did not match his perception of landing more and taking fewer shots. He believed the fight was being judged through a protective boxing lens, so he felt he needed to work harder to be convincing as an outsider. Two scorecards were even at the stoppage, while one had him ahead.
"So maybe I have to push it a little bit more; it's getting looked at through a protective boxing lens. So maybe, because I'm an outsider, I have to put in that extra work to be even more convincing. When the fight was stopped, two scorecards still had it even, while Verhoeven was leading on the third."
"Rico Verhoeven believes the scorecards were odd in his controversial loss against Oleksandr Usyk. Verhoeven challenged Usyk for the WBC heavyweight title last weekend in Giza, Egypt. Verhoeven dictated most of the fight before he was dropped by Usyk late in the 11th round. While Verhoeven got back up, Usyk followed up with a flurry, which was enough for the referee to stop the fight with a second left in the round."
"Apart from the controversial stoppage, the scorecards also felt “fishy” to Verhoeven. The bout had open scoring, where the scorecards were revealed to the fighters after every four rounds. Despite evidently leading in the early rounds, Verhoeven was slightly surprised to find out that the scorecards were even after the first four rounds. When the scorecards read as even after eight rounds, Verhoeven felt something was off."
Read at Sherdog
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