Rico Verhoeven wishes he’d gotten the chance to go into the 12th round or “go out on his shield,” but his tone after his controversial stoppage loss to Oleksandr Usyk was one of thanks, not anger.
Rico told DAZN that he did feel he could have continued, and wanted to do so.
“Yeah, of course I thought it was an early stoppage, but in the end, it’s not up to me,” he said. “Still, I found it a little bit early. I believe that the referee knows that we’re almost at the end of the round. Let me go out on
my shield or let the bell go. That’s what I thought, but like I said, it’s not up to me.”
Referee Mark Lyson stopped the fight with an official time of 2:59 in Round 11.
“It was so close. Let me go out on my shield or go into the 12th. I was close,” he added. “We were pretty equal on the score cards, or at least that’s what I felt like. But I’m very proud, very thankful. … I’m super proud with my performance. The boxing world will hopefully now embrace me as a boxer, as well.”
Rico did sound up for a rematch, which Turki Alalshikh has already said would be in his plans, but he did show respect to Agit Kabayel, who has been waiting on a WBC mandatory shot at Usyk.
“I know this man is waiting,” he said of Kabayel. “It’s not up to me, it’s up to the organizations. Let’s see what happens.”
Alalshikh said after the fight that he expects the Usyk vs Kabayel fight to come next, and then Usyk would rematch Verhoeven, likely in 2027.
As for Rico, he absolutely should be proud of his performance today, not only in the ring but as a sportsman and just as a man. This is a champion fighter who gave us an effort very, very few expected, and a class act to boot. As far as I’m concerned, he’s welcome back in boxing.
