Tom Aspinall thinks his friend and training partner, Rico Verhoeven, got robbed.
On Saturday, Verhoeven squared off with pound-for-pound great and lineal heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in a 12-round championship boxing match. No one gave Verhoeven much of a chance at the greatest heavyweight boxer of this generation, but the long-reigning GLORY Kickboxing champion gave a good accounting of himself, giving Usyk all he could handle until a controversial referee stoppage in the 11th round awarded
Usyk the win.
Aspinall, who occasionally trains with Verhoeven, released a video of his live reaction to the stoppage, where the UFC heavyweight champion was beside himself over the outcome.
“I think he’s fine there. Gum shield’s gone, but I think he’s alright,” Aspinall said on his YouTube channel. “He’s only got about 10 seconds left. He should be good. … Last 10 seconds, Rico can survive this. Oh, it’s the end of the round is it? Oh what, he stopped it?! No f*cking way! For a world title fight he stopped it, for a bout five or six unanswered shots! What?!
“Mate, what the f*cking hell is that? What a robbery! What a fix! That is outrageous!
“Two weeks ago, we were at Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois, ringside: that happened probably 10 times. Sent Fabio Wardley out there, big swollen eye on one side, nose squashed, big swelling on his forehead, been dropped five times in the fight, [but] they sent him out for another round. Stopped it about three rounds too late. Rico gets stumbled to his knee, they let him up with 10 seconds left, he lands a few unanswered shots, and they don’t even let him make it to the end of the round? It’s a f*cking robbery. What the f*ck was that.
“Boxing don’t want anyone else to win, simple as that. They want boxers with the amateur style, coming in, winning their Olympic medal, and then switching over and being unbeaten pros. That’s what they want. They don’t like other combat sports. It’s bullshit.”
Aspinall is far from the only person who disliked the stoppage. Immediately afterward, fans got into an uproar over the finish, and that backlash only intensified after video footage showed the referee intervening after the bell for the round had already sounded. That point in particular matters, because Verhoeven has already said he intends to appeal the loss on the ground of referee error, and Aspinall furious about the outcome.
“The bell went. So he stopped it after the round, basically,” Aspinall said. “Why not give him a chance? It’s not like he was taking a beating for the full fight. He took a few unanswered punches in the 11th round, with a round to go. I f*cking can’t believe that. That is f*cking — what is that?”
And that’s not all!
While Many fans were upset with the stoppage because they felt Verhoeven was ahead on the scorecards at the time, meaning Verhoeven had a win taken from him. Aspinall is among that group, giving Verhoeven at least seven of the 10 rounds that were completed. However, the judges at ringside were not on the same page, with two having it all tied up heading into the 11th round, and one having Verhoeven up by a round. So, given the knockdown he scored during the 11th round, had the fight continued on, Usyk would have been comfortably on the scorecards heading into the final frame, which just brought Aspinall back to his original position: robbery.
“So they basically had it level,” Aspinall said. “What is going on? What’s the point in doing all that Egypt stuff on these massive events, if you’re going to choose the winner before they even step in there. Just a massive narrative against Rico from the start, ‘Oh, he’s not a boxer, he’s never going to beat a boxer.’ Listen, he’s just beaten up a boxer for most of the fight, who some say is the best ever. What is that? I can’t believe it. Robbery.”
TOP STORIES
Loathing. Sean Strickland: ‘I hate myself’ for attending ‘f*cked up’ Manziel vs. Menery event.
Sure. Dana White says McGregor vs. Holloway 2 reveal had nothing to do with Francis Ngannou, MVP event.
Boxing. Oleksandr Usyk wins after controversial referee’s stoppage following late knockdown on Rico Verhoeven.
Appeal. Rico Verhoeven reacts to controversial ref stoppage in Oleksandr Usyk fight, plans to appeal loss.
Wrestling. Chris Weidman surprised Colby Covington called him out: ‘I think I’m going to crush him.’
Influencer. Video: Johnny Manziel demolishes Bob Menery in the first round at Brand Risk 14.
VIDEO STEW
Anything But Fighting.
PFL Brussels highlights.
UFC Macau promo.
The full Brand Risk 14 event.
And Dogfight Wild Tournament 4. This was the highlight of the weekend.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Khamzat Chimaev.
Nassourdine Imavov.
Matt Brown weighs in.
Respect.
New UFC White House visuals.
FEED ME MORE
Questions.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you didn’t watch Brand Risk 14, you didn’t miss much. But if you want to see Sean Strickland be the most aggressive version of his Fight Week personality, you can go find clips. There were several times that even Adin Ross was trying to move the conversation on.
Anyway, happy Memorial Day to all who celebrate!
EXIT POLL
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