The Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven bout witnessed one of the most controversial endings that will likely be debated for years to come. The Dutch kickboxing great was on route to pull off a huge upset heading into the 11th round, being ahead on one scorecard and a draw on two. But following a knockdown, during the Ukrainian’s flurry on Verhoeven, just as the bell rang to close the round, referee Mark Lyson jumped in to wave off the bout, in one of the most controversial endings to a fight in recent memory. Even blow-by-blow commentator Todd Grisham screamed out, “What are you doing?”

The crowd at the makeshift arena in Giza erupted as Oleksandr Usyk was handed a TKO win. Following the stoppage, a growing chorus of “robbery” claims blew up online. Now, Anthony Joshua has also chimed in with his verdict on his friend’s controversial bout.

“I don’t know,” Joshua told the media after the fight. “But it was a good fight. I knew he (Rico Verhoeven) was a good fighter.”

“Yeah, definitely,” he said when asked whether the fight was stopped early.

While it may have appeared that Anthony Joshua viewed the fight as a robbery, his stance was slightly different. The Brit believed the stoppage might have come early, but still stopped short of calling it a robbery because Usyk could have eventually secured the finish anyway, something even WBO champ Shakur Stevenson pointed out.

“Usyk turned it on when he needed,” Stevenson remarked on X. “The ref helped for sure but who’s to say Usyk wasn’t gone get him out of there he had plenty time.. Bad night in the office don’t look like he was in tip top shape to me!”

This is because, before the reigning WBC champion, Oleksandr Usyk, dropped Rico Verhoeven in the 11th round, the former Glory Kickboxing champion was ahead on one of the judges’ scorecards.

If the referee hadn’t stopped the fight at that controversial moment, there is a chance Verhoeven could’ve recovered during the break, and the fight could’ve gone to the scorecards. And if that had happened, Verhoeven could’ve defeated arguably one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time.

Robbery calls continue to plague the controversial Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven fight

Naturally, that stoppage drew plenty of reactions from the boxing world, with many criticising the referee’s decision. Boxing journalist Chris Mannix labelled the stoppage a robbery in no uncertain terms.

“You have one job, referee,” Mannix wrote on X. “And you blew it. Rico Verhoeven got robbed in Cairo.”

Even MMA journalist Ariel Helwani called the outcome robbery while also referencing the 2023 Francis Ngannou-Tyson Fury bout.

“Boxing fans/media (disrespectfully) dismissed Francis versus Fury,” Helwani declared on X. “I maintain until this day Francis won that fight. They did the exact same thing to Rico. And tonight Rico was robbed of a chance to shock the world.”

As the robbery claims surrounding the fight continue to grow, Anthony Joshua’s stance offers a more nuanced perspective, and his close relationship with Usyk may have also played a part.

After Daniel Dubois knocked out Anthony Joshua in late 2024, AJ initially joined Oleksandr Usyk’s training camp in Spain in 2025. What was originally planned as a brief camp eventually turned into a permanent relocation, as Joshua decided to stay on and work with the Ukrainian.  After that, their friendship continued to grow. Usyk also took Joshua to Ukraine after the Brit suffered a car accident in Nigeria last year that claimed the lives of two of his close friends. 

Despite that personal connection, ‘AJ’ remained honest with his thoughts on the Ukrainian boxing legend’s latest victory. But Canelo Alvarez reportedly felt completely differently, believing the referee actually saved Rico Verhoeven from a brutal beatdown in the final round.

With different opinions continuing to emerge, it will be interesting to see whether Usyk and Rico eventually run it back in a rematch and finally settle the controversy once and for all.