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Rico Verhoeven has spoken openly about his frustration following his loss to Oleksandr Usyk in Giza, saying he remains disappointed with both the referee’s intervention and the official scorecards after the bout.
The Dutch kickboxing star believes he was in control for large stretches of the fight, particularly in the opening half, before the contest was stopped late in the 11th round, with Usyk awarded the victory by technical knockout.
Following the fight, Verhoeven’s team filed an official protest, and the former GLORY heavyweight champion said he expects at least an acknowledgment that a mistake was made.
“They looked at me through a boxing lens of protection. That’s one of the reasons we filed the protest. They can at least say: ‘Rico, we’re sorry. We should have handled it better. We made a mistake,’” Verhoeven said during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.
His biggest complaint centers around the controversial stoppage just seconds before the end of the round. The referee later admitted he did not hear the final bell — something Verhoeven believes directly impacted the outcome of the fight.
“Honestly, I deserved to see the 12th round, and the fans deserved to see it too — regardless of the result,” he said.
Verhoeven also questioned the judges’ scorecards, saying he felt he had won more rounds than were officially awarded to him.
Despite his disappointment, the Dutchman made it clear that he wants a second fight with Usyk.
“I would 100 percent want a rematch with Usyk. But that doesn’t depend only on me,” Verhoeven said.
He also revealed that he has already received several offers for his next appearance, though his main focus remains securing a rematch with Usyk and potentially working again with Turki Alalshikh, who played a major role in organizing the event in Giza.
