Rico Verhoeven reveals his scorecard for Oleksandr Usyk fight before stoppage

Rico Verhoeven believes he had built up a substantial lead over Oleksandr Usyk before he was controversially stopped in the eleventh round.

The former long-reigning Glory Kickboxing heavyweight champion was given little to no chance of beating Usyk by bookies and experts alike.

AFP

And yet to the surprise of everyone, Verhoeven came within a whisker of pulling off the biggest upset in boxing history.

Heading into the penultimate frame, Verhoeven was ahead on one scorecard, while the other judges couldn’t seperate the pair.

Usyk then turned the fight on its head by decking Verhoeven with a well-time lead uppercut.

Verhoeven beat the count, but was swarmed by Usyk against the ropes as referee Mark Lyson stepped in and waved off the fight in the dying embers of the round.

Many, including Verhoeven himself, felt the stoppage had come too early, while there were also protestations that Lyson had intervened after the bell.

Verhoeven has lodged an appeal with the local boxing commission, but the stoppage wasn’t his only gripe.

He also felt hard done by the scorecards.

Rico Verhoeven’s personal scorecard

“If I look at the official scorecards, they were different to mine,” Verhoeven told talkSPORT.com as he revealed how he scored the fight.

“I was closer to the unofficial scorecard on the TV, Mike Coppinger.

“So I think 8-2, maybe it was 7-3 at a push, but I was ahead by a good distance.”

Matchroom Boxing

Open scoring was implemented by the WBC during the contest, meaning both boxers were fed the scorecards every four rounds.

When Verhoeven heard he was neck and neck with Usyk after the eighth stanza he was left perplexed.

“To be honest, before the fight I knew I had to push with everything to get it done, but I thought I was doing that,” Verhoeven added.

“That’s why I was really surprised by the scorecards.

“People who were watching the fight were wondering why I was pushing so much, but that is because we got the official scorecards after every four rounds.

“So I had to keep pushing because they were close, and me having to keep pushing meant I walked straight into an uppercut.

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“If I didn’t know the scorecards, I probably would have eased off and been more careful.

“I could feel myself tiring in the eleventh because I was pushing the pace for 10 rounds, but I had to keep going.”

Verhoeven is now expected to rematch Usyk after the Ukrainian has fufilled his WBC mandatory obligation against Agit Kabayel in the second half of this year.

The Dutchman is willing to wait for Usyk, but at 37 years old, he won’t be able to sit on the sidlines forever.