Rico Verhoeven seeks rematch with Oleksandr Usyk after contentious stoppage

Converted kickboxer takes unified champion deep in WBC title bout

End of round bell may have rung before referee stopped fight

Rico Verhoeven, the Dutch former kickboxer who has switched to boxing, wants an apology as well as a rematch, after being stopped one second before the end of the penultimate round in a WBC title bout with unified world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk last Saturday.

The stoppage was controversial, with Verhoeven feeling he could have continued and some replays suggesting the bell may have rung before the referee signalled the end of the fight — only Verhoeven’s second since switching to boxing — at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.