The referee who halted Oleksandr Usyk's heavyweight clash with Rico Verhoeven after the bell has conceded he failed to hear the klaxon signalling the end of the round. The controversial stoppage occurred in the 11th round of their world title fight, with Verhoeven having been ahead on one judge's scorecard. The Dutchman was knocked down in the dying seconds, beat the count, but was then stopped by referee Mark Lyson after a further flurry from Usyk.
Revelation from Verhoeven's Coach
Replays later showed the fight was stopped after the bell had sounded. Verhoeven's coach, Peter Fury, has now disclosed that Lyson admitted his error. Speaking to iFL TV, Fury said: "The referee was on the flight with me on the way back. So I spoke to him. I went over, and the best way to sort any dispute is to go and ask him the question, isn't it? To the person who's done it."
Fury continued: "I said, 'You've made a mistake'. And he said to me, which is very important, he said, 'Peter, I didn't hear the bell.' I said, 'Well, now that I believe, because I didn't hear the bell either'. I didn't hear the bell. I thought it was like two seconds before. I was only going off what people were telling me around the ring. I'm more focused on the fight itself."
Acknowledging the Mistake
Fury described the incident as a genuine mistake made in the heat of the moment. He explained: "But this is what it was, so I think, look, obviously it's in the heat of the moment. Rico's gone down. Usyk has gone to finish it. But obviously, he's behind Usyk. He hasn't really seen, but there's been no punches landed. So yes, it's a mistake. And I'm going to call it a genuine mistake."
He added: "That's all I can say, because I can't accuse a fellow of anything else. That's ridiculous. There's no facts there. And after me speaking with him, he said it, and he said it honestly. He said, 'I never heard the bell.' I take that as right, because I didn't hear the bell either. But look, I thought we'd seen an excellent fight."
