By Hisham Zaben
That was probably the worst stoppage I have ever seen when considering what was at stake. I totally agree with the judges scorecards. I had it 6-4 going in to the 11th. Usyk won that round 10-8 which would make it even with two of the judges going in to the last.
The round was basically over with one second left and Rico was still responsive with his guard up. He was not defenseless. The referee litteraly had to jump in between them to stop it. Absolutely horrible stoppage. We do not know how well Rico would have recovered with one minute rest and he was up on the cards. Had he came back in the 12th and won the round he would have pulled off the biggest upset ever and he deserved that chance. Usyk also deserved the chance to knock him out in the 12th round.
It would have been decided in the very last round. This was clear what it was: The referee intervened to save the face of Boxing. In his mind Usyk could have been trailing even worse than he was with scorecards impossible to turn around in one round so I think he took the chance when he saw it to end it right there and then.
Regarding what we saw tonight take place in the ring, here is my explanation of why it happened like it did.
This is the night where Usyk got old. In Boxing you see this sometimes with fighters getting old in one night and that is what we saw here. Usyk was not the one we are used to seeing. This was not Usyk that beat Joshua twice, Dubois twice and Fury twice. This was not that guy. We only saw glimpses of the old Usyk and like a miracle and special fighter that he is, he found the big shot in the 11th when Rico slowed down just enough.
So this was a mix of Usyk not being the old Usyk we remember and are accustomed to seeing and a Rico who was much better than advertised. Rico’s physical strength and punching power was tremendous. The physical strength of Rico was making it extremly hard for Usyk and Rico was fighting a great fight. He deserved to have the chance to pull off a miracle with one round left. Shame on the referee for doing this.
Ringdomaren bröt i fel ögonblick men Verhoeven såg rätt färdig ut oavsett. Men ringdomaren lät också holländaren komma med huvudet först medan han vevade med bägge armarna och det liknade ibland tjurfäktning. Det var farligt för bägge och domaren borde varnat Verhoeven.
Det kan virke urimeligt for en bokser at blive stoppet af dommeren med kun få sekunder tilbage af omgangen – og især frustrerende da Verhoeven ikke her var i gulvet – men det er en dommers opgave og pligt at afbryde en kamp hvis der er risiko for at bokseren er rystet eller lider overlast ved at fortsætte. – også selv om der kun resterer få sekunder af en omgang. – Men ærgerligt for Verhoeven der havde leveret en meget overbevisende præstation