Coach Peter Fury is refusing to think about what might have been after his charge, Rico Verhoeven, was stopped in Round 11 in front of the Pyramids in Giza.
Dutchman Verhoeven, a legendary kickboxer, gave Usyk a lot to think about through their fight and Fury was quick to give both men credit.
“What can I tell you? If Usyk hadn’t took this fight serious, he’d have got himself stopped,” Fury told BoxingScene.
“He’d have been out of there. You know, and the extra pounds he put on, if he wasn’t super fit, look, this is from a boxing man that knows what I’m looking at and I know what pressure is. If he hadn’t been superfit, Usyk, he wouldn’t have withstood that pace. He wouldn’t have been able to withstand them punches and the amount of pressure that was getting put on him. So, of course, he’s had a great training camp, but look, if a man’s in front of you and there’s nothing available for you to hit and he’s pressing it, it’s a difficult scenario.”
There was only one second left in the penultimate round when referee Mark Lyson stepped in to stop the fight.
Verhoeven had been dropped by a sharp right uppercut, lost his mouthpiece before the fight was waved back on, but was under heavy pressure when the end came.
“He landed a fabulous uppercut in the 11th, he turned the fight around and he got the victory,” Fury stated. “So look, I’m not going to be sore about it, no. Referee is another matter. Yes, he made a mistake, but you know, we all make mistakes. Was it deliberate? I can’t say this. I spoke to Mark Lyson and he said, ‘Peter, I never heard the bell, I never heard the bell.’
“So I’ve got to give the man the credit. It was one of them type of fights. I think Mark did get it wrong, he got it wrong in so far as that it’s a world title fight. It wasn’t one-way traffic, he wasn’t taking a beating, the round was ended. Whether he didn’t hear the bell or not, he knew the round was at a close by then. So he should let him go back to the corner.
“I think there’s a lot of overreactions. We can all say what’s happened after the event, but it is what it is. I think it was a great fight, though, and I enjoyed it. It was a very, very competitive. But look, ultimately in the championship rounds, Usyk found the shot and that’s it.”
Both Fury and Verhoeven have accepted the outcome with dignity. They may or may not land a rematch, but they both know Usyk was pushed hard. And that was something Fury always felt Rico could do.
“Well, that’s because I see differently than a lot of people see things,” he said. “I work on what I do best for my fighter and the strategies to make it awkward in there because look, if an opponent can’t land, it’s a problem, isn’t it? If he can’t see your shots and you can’t land them clean, it’s a problem. But we do what we do and we’ve done our best and that’s not taking away from Usyk.”
Was he not angry at the time of the stoppage?
“Well, the thing is, what can we do about it?” Fury added. “Listen, I’ve been in a lot of situations in my time. I was disappointed, I'll be honest. I was disappointed. You know, you can see Rico in the comments afterwards. He was there and he said, ‘Look, I’d rather go out on my shield.’
“He wasn't ready to go. He was manoeuvring and you know, I’m hearing stuff about the gumshield come out. Look, Usyk must have hit the gumshield out of his mouth or it’s fell out. There’s one thing I can tell you is my man is an honorable fighting man. He’s not going to spit no gumshield out to gain time. He’s not that man. But you know, it is what it is. We can all look and say, we can say this, we can say that, they say the other.
"But what I do know is Rico’s concentration lapsed for a second. He done the wrong thing by going in [to attack at that moment] and he knows that because we spoke on the phone and he paid the price for it.”
Fury smiled recalling how Rico sprinted to the ring (“it’s certainly different”) but said Verhoeven is in the heavyweight division to stay.
“He’s not a one-hit wonder,” Fury continued. “You’re going to see him box again and he’s at a high level. Trust me, he can fight this Rico. He’s tough and he’s awkward and he’s got strength which is unimaginable. And this is why I’m giving Usyk the credit – because I know my man.
“He’s a good man, Rico. He’s a proper good fighting man.
“Let’s give the man [Usyk] credit, come on. He won. He won by stoppage. Congratulations, Usyk.
“Rico will come again. Yeah, if the referee hadn’t stopped him, he’d have come back to the corner. Would Rico have survived? Every chance of it. Would Usyk, have finished it properly and got the knockout? Every chance of it. We just don’t know. But what we do know is, the controversy all started from a brilliant uppercut and he landed it.”
Fury believes his fighter now merits a top 10 ranking given his showing, and he insisted there would be no kickboxing return. Verhoeven will box again, likely around September or October.
I'm proud of both men. I’m not listening, getting on the hype train, what if, what if…” he concluded.
“I’ll tell you what if. He [Usyk] landed a beautiful uppercut and he nearly took my man’s head off. So he needs maximum credit for that. And we’ll never know if we would have got stopped otherwise. That we don’t know. Referee done wrong. But listen, mistakes happen. You know, I’m not going to hold it against him. Let’s just move on. Usyk won. They had a terrific fight. Massive congratulations to Usyk. Massive congratulations to my guy.”
