Rico Verhoeven wants the involved parties to admit a mistake and apologize after a controversial stoppage in his heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk. Verhoeven appeared to be winning most of the bout and was dropped late in the 11th round by an uppercut. Usyk then landed enough shots for referee Mark Lyson to stop the fight with a second remaining. Rumors claim the referee stopped the fight after the bell, and Verhoeven’s coach says Lyson admitted the error during their return flight. Verhoeven filed a review appeal with the Middle East Professional Boxing Commission, citing open scoring that showed even cards despite his belief he was ahead. He expects the appeal to result only in an apology and acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
"He can say, 'You guys are right. I made a mistake.' And that's a fair point, that can happen. Everybody is human," Verhoeven said on "The Ariel Helwani Show" "There's always room for mistakes. Admit those mistakes, apologize, and let's continue from there.""
"If the last-second stoppage wasn't controversial enough, rumors also suggest that Lyson stopped the fight after the bell. Verhoeven's coach, Peter Fury, claims Lyson even admitted his mistake on their flight back home. Verhoeven believes that to err is human. However, he wants Lyson to merely admit his mistake and apologize."
"The open-scoring bout showed the fighters the judges' scorecards after every four rounds. Despite feeling like he was evidently leading, Verhoeven surprisingly saw that the scorecards were even both times they were shown. Verhoeven believes, with him originally being a kickboxer, the bout was scored with a "protective" standpoint for boxing. Verhoeven has now filed a review appeal with the Middle East Professional Boxing Commission."
""That's why we appealed it," Verhoeven said. "All they can say is, 'Okay, Rico, we apologize. We should have done better; we made a mistake.' That's all you can ask for. You can'"
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