Peter Fury reveals what referee told him on plane ride back home.
Oleksandr Usyk’s performance against Rico Verhoeven on Saturday night has become the subject of an immense amount of talk in the two days that have followed.
The Ukrainian multi-belt champion was made to look vulnerable, hittable, and out of ideas early on against Verhoeven, who was making just his second appearance in professional boxing.
Throughout the night, it appeared that the most unrealistic of pre-fight predictions was set to unfold, as the Dutchman walked Usyk down, outmuscled him, and caught him with a myriad of surprise shots.
In the 11th round, Usyk caught his foe with an uppercut and scored a knockdown. Once Verhoeven made his way back to his feet, he was given some extra recovery time to have his mouthpiece replaced.
Once the action resumed, Usyk went to work with what little was left of the round. Unloading on the still-hurt Verhoeven, nothing truly punishing landed, but it was clear the Dutchman needed the bell to go.
It did, but referee Mark Lyson chose to stop the fight anyway.
The outrage that has followed has come from all directions of the boxing world, and even the commentators on the night were incensed.
With the events still fresh in everyone’s minds, the question of why Lyson did what he did (especially since the round had officially ended) still lingers.
It looks like we now have the answer.
Peter Fury, who trained Verhoeven for the fight and has previously trained nephew Tyson to the world heavyweight championship, sat down for an interview with iFL TV earlier today.
Peter revealed that coming back from Egypt, he had been on the same plan as Lyson. And after stating that he spoke with him during the journey, he revealed something that was somewhat of a revelation.
“I said, ‘You’ve made a mistake’,” stated Peter, “and he said to me–which was very important–he said, ‘Peter, I didn’t hear the bell’, yeah? I said, ‘Well, now, that I believe, ’cause I didn’t hear the bell, either.’ I didn’t hear the bell. I thought it was, like, two seconds before [the bell went], because I’m only goin’ off what people’s tellin’ me around the ring.”
Still, the debate regarding the stoppage shall continue. That’s just how this crazy sport of ours works.
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