UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall reacted to the controversial finish in the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven boxing match.
Although most fans, fighters, and media watching the bout felt that Verhoeven was in the lead, the referee stopped the fight with one second to go in the 11th round after Usyk hurt Verhoeven. Instead of giving Verhoeven a chance to make it to the 12th round and potentially win the fight by knockout or on the scorecards, the referee stole the opportunity away from Verhoeven to potentially pull off a gigantic upset.
Verhoeven’s friend, the UFC heavyweight kingpin Aspinall, was not at all impressed by the referee’s performance.
Tom Aspinall Upset With Stoppage in Usyk vs. Verhoeven
Speaking in a short video posted on his YouTube channel, Aspinall shared his raw reaction to the controversial stoppage in Usyk vs. Verhoeven.
“I’m just getting a chance now to watch my friend Rico vs. Usyk. Mate, what a crazy, crazy way to end the fight. I can’t believe it. He was absolutely done over big time,” Aspinall said.
After posting this short clip, Aspinall later shared a full-length video of himself reacting to what he considers a robbery.
“What? He stopped it? What a (expletive) robbery. Boxing don’t want anyone else to win,” Aspinall said.
Will Boxing Book Usyk vs. Verhoeven Rematch?
Both the fight-ending stoppage and the scorecards for this Usyk vs. Verhoeven were extremely controversial, and many fans are calling for a rematch because of all the funny business that went down.
As far as the stoppage goes, there was no doubt it was early. Yes, Verhoeven was hurt, but the round was essentially over, and he would have had one minute in between rounds to clear the cobwebs. Maybe he would have been finished cleanly by Usyk in the final round, but because the referee stopped the fight, we’ll never know the true ending to the bout.
Not only did the referee rob Verhoeven of a potential historic upset, but he also robbed Usyk of the chance to get a highlight-reel finish free of controversy. While Usyk is obviously glad he got his hand raised instead of losing the bout, no one wants to win that way. But because the referee foolishly intervened and stopped the fight, now Usyk won’t have the proper closure that he or his opponent deserves to have.
Then we can talk about the scorecards. At the end of 10 rounds, two judges had the bout tied up 95-95, with one judge having Verhoeven up 96-94. Since Usyk would have won the 11th round with a 10-8 score, it means that Verhoeven would have had to knock Usyk out in the last round to win the fight. Considering that most observers watching it felt like he was winning the bout, it’s a terrible feeling to know that Verhoeven didn’t really have much of a chance to win if it had hit the scorecards.
We need a rematch for this bout. It’s the only fair thing to do, and while other heavyweights deserve to fight for the heavyweight title as well, Verhoeven deserves the rematch even more, as do combat sports fans, who were robbed of a legitimate finish in this heavyweight boxing match.
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