Former undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk entered 2026 with a plan. He wanted to defend his belt at least twice, then potentially pursue a trilogy fight with Tyson Fury. When the WBC paired him against Dutch kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven, who had just one professional boxing fight to his name, fans and experts expected the Ukrainian to run through him. They were wrong. By the end of Round 10, two judges had the fight even at 95-95, while the third scored it 96-94 in Verhoeven’s favor. 

In the final seconds of Round 11, Usyk backed Verhoeven into the corner and landed a flurry of punches. Referee Mark Lyson stepped in and stopped the fight, but just as the bell sounded. The stoppage sparked an immediate uproar. Usyk, whose 2026 plans were upended by the controversy, later relinquished his titles rather than face mandatory challengers in his division. Verhoeven, meanwhile, has been vocal in his opposition to the stoppage and recently talked about it in one of the sport’s loudest platforms. He appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, where the UFC commentator weighed in on what he saw. 

“There’s no way they would stop that fight,” Rogan stated. “No way. Look, it’s either incompetence or corruption. And I tend to think corruption. This is what I think these guys want to keep judging fights, and they want the favor of the promoters, and the money is in Usyk. Usyk is a huge name. He’s their big star in the heavyweight division.”

Verhoeven could barely disagree. He admitted the stoppage still plays on his mind. Understandably so, a win over a three-time undisputed champion, widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights of his generation, would have been one of the biggest upsets in the division’s history. 

“At this point in time, they should really consider having alternative scoring,” Rogan added.

It’s a sentiment that goes beyond this one fight. Boxing’s long-standing reputation for corrupt scorecards and questionable stoppages has fans and experts pushing for reforms. Verhoeven drew a comparison to soccer, where a bad call can be overturned instantly through video review, and argued that boxing needs the same transparency. 

Verhoeven believes a win over Usyk would have put boxing’s power brokers in an uncomfortable position. Despite holding GLORY’s heavyweight title for over a decade, longer than any champion in the promotion’s history, he remains largely unknown to boxing audiences.

The fight against Usyk placed the WBC title on the line. Had Verhoeven replaced Usyk as the new champion, it would have been tough for the promoters to sell any title unification or, for that matter, a title defense, even against a big name. Viewed through that lens, some, like Rogan, feel that the organisation could not have asked for a better outcome than Usyk winning the fight on May 23.

That narrative deserves a closer look. Would boxing’s top brass really go to such lengths to protect their biggest names?

The sanctioning bodies’ pre-fight decisions make the argument harder to ignore. In case of Usyk winning, the WBA deemed it a successful title defense. However, the title would not go to Verhoeven if he won. Likewise, the IBF declared the title would become vacant if Usyk won, which again basically meant Verhoeven would not receive the belt.

First with Tyson Fury, now with Oleksandr Usyk

The Usyk-Verhoeven controversy isn’t the first time boxing’s biggest star has been at the center of a disputed result against an outsider. Three years ago, then-WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury faced former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena on October 28, 2023.

The ten-round bout caught everyone off guard when Ngannou, in his professional boxing debut, knocked Fury down in the third round with a left hook. Fury appeared to regain control from there, but when the final bell rang, many felt Ngannou had done enough to win. The judges disagreed. A split decision went to Fury.

Viewed alongside the Usyk-Verhoeven bout, the similarities are difficult to ignore. Both involved one of boxing’s biggest stars facing a decorated outsider. 

What followed the Usyk-Verhoeven stoppage added another layer. According to Verhoeven’s trainer, Peter Fury, he spoke with referee Mark Lyson on the flight home, and Lyson appeared to acknowledge that he did not hear the bell.

Yet the circumstance that forced the referee to make the split-second decision to stop the fight that headlined the card in Giza, Egypt, deserves a closer look. With 25 seconds left in round 11, Oleksandr Usyk dropped Rico Verhoeven with a right uppercut. The referee allowed Rico to get back up and continue fighting.

The final seconds of the round, before it was stopped, saw Usyk connecting brutal combinations against which Rico did not have an answer. The Rico fight has cast a shadow over Usyk’s otherwise brilliant career.

Was that a good stoppage? No. But could Rico have won the fight had it not been called? This is one of the biggest “what ifs” from that night. While Rico was winning the fight in the judges’ scorecards, we cannot say with certainty that Rico would have pulled off the upset win, considering how Usyk completely took control in round 11.