Joe Rogan has taken aim at the controversial TKO finish in Oleksandr Usyk’s Round 11 victory over Rico Verhoeven this past Saturday in Cairo, Egypt.
Usyk scored a TKO after dropping Verhoeven late in the 11th round, with the referee stepping in to wave off the fight with one second remaining. Verhoeven immediately protested the stoppage, and it appeared that the bell had already sounded before the referee intervened.
Two judges had the bout scored a draw at the time of the stoppage, while the third judge had Verhoeven ahead by one round. Rogan strongly disagreed with how the ending was handled, saying, "Bro, he was winning 8-2 in my eyes. I thought he was winning 8-2 going into the 11th round when the fight was stopped. Now, the fight shouldn't have been stopped the way it was stopped."
Rogan also pointed to what he viewed as procedural issues following the knockdown. "But also that wasn't eight seconds after the knockdown. So after he gets knocked down, he doesn't have his mouthpiece, so then they have to go over to the corner, rinse off his mouth piece. The whole thing is a mistake. It takes like 30 seconds, and then the referee stops it when he's still standing, moving around."
Verhoeven plans to formally appeal the stoppage loss, while Rogan summed up the Dutch heavyweight’s mindset by noting, "He's so used to combat, too. Like getting in there just fighting Usyk, it's not a big deal to him," as debate over the Cairo finish continues.
