LONDON: Dutch former kickboxer Rico Verhoe­v­en 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 world heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk last weekend.

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 at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

Scorecards published by The Ring magazine afterwards showed two of the three judges had the fight tied 95-95 going into the 11th of 12 rounds and the other had Verhoeven ahead 96-94.

“(I want) just an apology. What else can we do? I can’t demand anything else,” Verhoeven told the BBC on Thursday, adding his team had lodged an appeal with the WBC.

“Mistakes can be made because we’re all human and that’s OK. But all I’m looking for actually is: ‘yeah, sorry guys, this could have gone differently — this is something we have to look at and hopefully this doesn’t happen in the future’.

“That’s it and then let’s continue from there and get to the rematch.”

Germany’s Agit Kabayel is the WBC’s mandatory challenger and Usyk could have to fight him first before any rematch with Verhoeven.

“Let’s see what pops up next. But I have to be honest, it’s got to be big. I feel like I’m the uncrowned king,” said Verhoeven.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026