Immediately following Oleksandr Usyk’s 11 round stoppage of kickboxer Rico Verhoeven
last night, trainer Peter Fury gave his immediate reaction to what transpired in the ring, particularly with Rico performing much better against Usyk than anyone anticipated.“I’m very proud of him,” Fury said. “It was nice what Turki Alalshikh said about it. As soon as it was stopped, ‘I want a rematch.’ That’s what he seen so, you know, it was an incredible event and we thank [Alalshikh] and Usyk for giving Rico
a chance. And Usyk said to me, he said ‘Peter, I know Rico, I know what he’s about and I know this is going to be a hard fight.’ He knows, he’s trained for a hard fight.
“But let’s not take anything away from Oleksandr Usyk because Rico is a monster. He’s a serious, serious fighter, and to do what he’s done and take them shots, Usyk, and ride the storm and come back, it is incredible credit as well.
“The only thing that’s let Rico down tonight is ring experience, that’s it. It’s a new sport for him. He had a six month training camp to get that performance. But when he first started there was no footwork, he was on the back leg, chin in the air — you can imagine, ‘cause he’s a kickboxer. So to do what he’s done, that transformation, is incredible. It’s amazing.”
Fury was then asked about his thoughts on the controversial stoppage.
“Yeah, he could’ve let it go. He should’ve let it go because as soon as they’d have put him back together again the round was over. There was like two seconds left, so he should’ve been allowed, he’s on his feet, come back to the corner, refresh him up, give him instructions, and we’ll never know what [could’ve] happened. Usyk could’ve stopped him in the 12th round, or he could’ve revived and got on with it, we could’ve went to the scorecards. We’ll never know now, will we.”
