{"id":38523,"date":"2026-05-25T15:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T15:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Tom-Aspinall-slams-Rico-Verhoevens-controversial-loss-to-Oleksandr-Usyk-201309"},"modified":"2026-05-25T15:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T15:45:17","slug":"tom-aspinall-slams-rico-verhoevens-controversial-loss-to-oleksandr-usyk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/tom-aspinall-slams-rico-verhoevens-controversial-loss-to-oleksandr-usyk\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Aspinall slams Rico Verhoeven\u2019s controversial loss to Oleksandr Usyk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Tom
\nAspinall<\/a> believes the winner of the bout between Rico
\nVerhoeven<\/a> and Oleksandr Usyk was decided beforehand. <\/p>\n

Aspinall\u2019s longtime training partner, Verhoeven, challenged Usyk
\nfor the WBC heavyweight title on Saturday in front of the Pyramids
\nin Giza, Egypt. Verhoeven shocked the world by taking the lead in
\nthe early rounds and appeared to be on his way to one of the
\ngreatest upset wins in boxing history. However, Usyk dropped
\nVerhoeven in the final seconds of the 11th round. While Verhoeven
\nreturned to his feet, Usyk chased him with a barrage of unanswered
\nshots. Referee Mark Lyson stopped the fight with a second left in
\nthe 11th round, declaring it a stoppage win for Usyk. <\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Aspinall deems it an unfair stoppage. Aspinall believes the
\nofficiating was biased towards Usyk, as they did not want a
\nkickboxer, to win the WBC title. The
\nUFC<\/a> heavyweight champion believes boxing doesn\u2019t like other
\ncombat sports, and the world of pugilism is closed to outsiders.
\nAccording to Aspinall, the winner of the fight was decided before
\nthe opening bell.<\/p>\n

Unfriendly to Other Combat Sports?<\/h2>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t even let him make it to the end of the round,\u201d Aspinall
\nsaid on YouTube<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a robbery. What the f\u2014k
\nwas  that? F\u2014ing boxing don\u2019t want anyone else to win. They
\nwant the boxers with the amateur style coming in, winning the
\nOlympic medal, and then switching over and beating unbeaten pros.
\nThat\u2019s what they want. They don\u2019t like other combat sports\u2026 Why did
\nyou give him a chance?… What is the point in doing all that Egypt
\nstuff, all these massive events, if you\u2019re going to choose the
\nwinner before they even step in there?\u201d<\/p>\n

While Aspinall had openly been considering a transition to boxing
\nafter his retirement from MMA, Verhoeven\u2019s loss might make him
\nreconsider things. Meanwhile, former UFC heavyweight champion
\nFrancis
\nNgannou<\/a>, who suffered a controversial split decision loss
\nagainst Tyson Fury<\/a>
\nin 2023, also showed his support for Verhoeven. Like Aspinall,
\nNgannou also believes that boxing doesn\u2019t like outsiders. <\/p>\n