It was a loss felt all around the world. After going toe-to-toe with one of the greatest boxers of all time and narrowly causing an upset, Rico Verhoeven was denied a chance at history when referee Mark Lyson waved off the fight after a few punishing strikes from Oleksandr Usyk, seemingly after the bell had rung in the 11th round. With it, the unified heavyweight champion was handed a TKO win while the Dutch kickboxing great had to walk out of the arena with just a medal around his neck.

Since then, Verhoeven has spoken out on the highly controversial stoppage, and his reaction seems to have gently pushed back against Francis Ngannou‘s massive claim that combat sports “outsiders” are simply never allowed to win in boxing.

“Outsiders will never win,” Ngannou wrote on X. “Trust me, I know, but Rico was the winner tonight. Period.”

As expected, the comment quickly exploded online since many fans already believed the referee called the fight off too soon. However, Verhoeven didn’t let the chatter give the fight a cynical outlook. Instead of directly questioning the stoppage or accusing boxing of protecting Usyk, the 37-year-old shared the official scorecards on Instagram while calling for a rematch.

“Leave emotions out of it,” he wrote in the caption. “Read the cards. One second left heading into the 12th and final round.

“Onwards and upwards! Respect to @usykaa, it was an honor to share the ring with you. Let’s run it back! @turki”

According to the cards shared online, going into the 11th round, two judges had it a draw, while one had Rico ahead by two points.

While social media overwhelmingly rallied behind Verhoeven after the stoppage, the official judging showed that the fight was razor-close. And, to be honest, that could explain why ‘The King of Kickboxing’ didn’t completely embrace Francis Ngannou’s “outsider narrative” while clearly wanting the rematch.

The Dutch combat veteran is also contemplating filing an official appeal following the bout.

“They stopped the fight after the bell. I think we might just go and appeal it because this doesn’t make any sense,” Verhoeven told Boxing News while leaving the arena. “When the referee came in, I wasn’t dazzled or whatever. I was looking at the referee like, ‘Why are you stopping? We’re almost there.’ It didn’t make any sense to me.

“Of course, mistakes can be made, but the referee should admit his mistake. Look back at it and say it’s either a no-contest or we go to the scorecards. And if we go to the scorecards, I was ahead.”

Regardless of how combat fans feel about the stoppage, one thing was evident after the fight: Rico Verhoeven proved that he belongs at the elite heavyweight boxing level. Entering the fight as a major underdog due to his kickboxing background, he pushed one of boxing’s pound-for-pound greats into the deep waters and nearly pulled off one of combat sports’ greatest upsets.

Even in defeat, his stock may have risen higher than ever before. And even though many did not see this coming, UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall already saw an upset coming from a mile away.

Tom Aspinall predicted a major upset before Rico Verhoeven took on Oleksandr Usyk

Long before most fans gave Rico Verhoeven a real chance against Oleksandr Usyk, UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall was already certain that the upset was possible. In fact, the Briton had warned fans not to overlook the 37-year-old just because he came from kickboxing, claiming that elite heavyweight striking translates significantly better into boxing than most people think.

“I think anyone can win in combat sports,” Aspinall said on the Fight Your Corner podcast. “I think everyone has got a chance. Rico is a big human being, and he might cause Usyk some problems with his movement. They move different. When I’ve sparred boxers in the past, the success I’ve had is very limited.

“I’ll hold my hands up and say I’m not going out pinging professional boxers in a boxing spar, but the success I’ve had is when I do stuff they’re not used to. I’ll be miles out of range, dive in, and do weird stuff. I won’t do the traditional one-two. Rico has the chance of doing that against Usyk. Doing different stuff that he’s not accustomed to with normal boxers.”

It seems that is exactly what he did. Despite entering as a heavy underdog, Rico Verhoeven remained competitive for much of the fight, forcing Oleksandr Usyk to have a much rougher night than many anticipated. The 37-year-old’s composure, head movement, and striking ability surprised fans who expected the Ukrainian to overpower him swiftly from the start.

That’s why the ending drew such a strong response online. For many fans, this was a perfect example of a combat sports outsider pushing an established boxing superstar to the limit before falling short in controversial fashion. For many, it almost echoed Buster Douglas’ historic upset win over Mike Tyson in 1990, despite being a 42-1 underdog going into the fight.