Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Francis
Ngannou slightly disagree on Oleksandr Usyk’s win over Rico
Verhoeven.
Usyk put his WBC heavyweight title on the line against former
kickboxing champion Verhoeven in front of the Pyramids in Egypt on
Saturday. A +1400 underdog going into the fight, Verhoeven
surprised everyone by dominating the early rounds. While Verhoeven
appeared to be en route to one of the biggest upset wins in boxing
history, Usyk dropped him with an uppercut in the 11th round.
Verhoeven returned to his feet but immediately found himself on the
receiving end of a flurry from Usyk. While Verhoeven was still on
his feet, referee Mark Lyson bizarrely stopped the fight with a
second left in the round.
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Difference of Opinion
While the stoppage is facing massive backlash from fans and
pundits, Canelo thinks it was fair. The former multiple-division
world champion believes the referee saved Verhoeven from a vicious
knockout.
“Very good fight, I didn’t expect that from Rico,” Canelo told
Seconds Out. “Tough [to score]… I don’t think [it
was an early stoppage]. I think they saved Verhoeven from a
knockout.”
Meanwhile, Ngannou, who has trained with Verhoeven in the past,
believes the Dutchman was robbed. Ngannou suffered a controversial
split-decision loss against Tyson Fury
despite dropping “The Gypsy King” in 2023. While Ngannou had
switched over from MMA to boxing, Verhoeven came from kickboxing.
Ngannou claims the world of pugilism won’t let outsiders win.
“Outsiders will never win, trust me I know, but Rico was the winner
tonight. Period,” Ngannou wrote on Instagram.