{"id":691216,"date":"2026-05-24T09:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T09:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/691216\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T09:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T09:33:11","slug":"boxing-fans-convinced-oleksandr-usyks-controversial-fight-was-fixed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/691216\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxing fans convinced Oleksandr Usyk’s controversial fight was FIXED"},"content":{"rendered":"

World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk got the better of kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in controversial fashion after the referee stepped in towards the end of the 11th round\"Oleksandr<\/p>\n

Usyk finally knocked Verhoeven down in the 11th round(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Boxing fans have claimed Oleksandr Usyk’s<\/a> fight with kickboxer Rico Verhoeven was rigged after the Ukrainian’s controversial win.<\/p>\n

To the surprise of everybody watching on, Usyk struggled against Verhoeven with many believing the Dutchman was ahead on rounds prior to an 11th-round stoppage.<\/a><\/p>\n

There was just one second remaining in the penultimate frame when British referee Mark Lyson waved the fight off with Usyk finally coming back into the fight.<\/p>\n

Usyk knocked Verhoeven down earlier in the round and was raining down punches when the referee jumped in. But Verhoeven immediately showed his surprise and would have had the opportunity to regather himself between rounds.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Jake Paul issues instant response to Oleksandr Usyk ‘robbery’<\/a>READ MORE: Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven scorecards from controversial fight<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was an early stoppage\u2026 the referee knows we\u2019re almost at the end of the round,” Verhoeven said after the fight. \u201cLet me go out on my shield, or let the bell go. But it\u2019s not up to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/a> sensation Jake Paul<\/a>, who suffered a brutal knockout at the hands of Anthony Joshua<\/a> in his last outing, said: “I mean that\u2019s the most insane s*** I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cRico winning every round and the moment the ref sees to end it then he ends it, are you kidding. I\u2019m the biggest Usyk fan but bro you lost that s***.<\/p>\n

\u201cShoutout to Rico for beating his ass every round and getting jipped. Damnnnnnn.\u201d<\/p>\n

And boxing<\/a> fans shared the sentiment. \u201cBulls*** stoppage, boxing is fixed,” one wrote. Another added: “The biggest disgrace and robbery ever. What the f***. The bell went. Absolutley disgraceful.\u201d A third said: “Filthy rigged sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oleksandr<\/p>\n

The fight was controversially stopped just one second before the end of the 11th round(Image: ANP\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

Leaked scorecards showed Verhoeven was narrowly ahead, with one judge scoring the fight 96-94 in his favour at the time of the stoppage, while the other two cards were level.<\/p>\n

But some were surprised at the closeness of the verdicts, with DAZN analyst Mike Coppinger having Verhoeven 98-92 in front.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine taking boxing seriously in 2026. How anyone is a fan of this sport anymore is beyond comprehension,” another fan added. While a fifth said: “Ridiculous scorecard. Rico was miles ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk got the better of kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in controversial fashion after the referee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,7704,85],"class_list":["post-691216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-oleksandr-usyk","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}