I’m ready for anyone. I’m here to stay. I think we’ve shown that we might be the best. I feel like the uncrowned king.
Rico Verhoeven has recharged his batteries despite his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk. The Dutch kickboxing star kept up a surprisingly strong fight against the heavyweight champion for long stretches and was even ahead on one scorecard before the late stoppage. Two more scores were even after ten rounds.
However, the ending caused some discussion. Verhoeven was sent to the floor by a right uppercut in round eleven, but got back to his feet. Shortly before the bell, Usyk followed up and landed several punches. Just as the bell rang, referee Mark Lyson stopped the fight.
Nevertheless, Verhoeven feels vindicated by his performance. In the DAZN program “Inside The Ring”, he said: “I’m ready for anyone. I’m here to stay. I think we showed that we might be the best. I feel like the uncrowned king.”