Referee Mark Lyson allegedly admitted to making a mistake in
Rico
Verhoeven’s controversial loss against Oleksandr
Usyk.
Lyson was the third man inside the ring when Verhoeven challenged
Usyk for the WBC heavyweight title last weekend in front of the
Pyramids in Giza, Egypt. A massive underdog, Verhoeven landed the
more significant strikes for the most part. Verhoeven appeared to
be on the way to a monumental upset win when Usyk dropped him late
in the 11th round. While Verhoeven returned to his feet, Usyk
backed him up with a barrage of unanswered shots. Lyson abruptly
stepped in and called a stop to the contest with officially a
second left in the 11th round.
If the official stoppage wasn’t already controversial enough, some
rumors suggest that Lyson stopped the bout after the bell went off.
The make matters worse, there was no fight clock for viewers on the
live broadcast. Verhoeven’s coach Peter Fury claims Lyson was
travelling with him on the same flight back home. When Fury
confronted Lyson about the stoppage, the referee allegedly admitted
that he didn’t hear the bell go off. Fury credits Lyson for
admitting his mistake, and they ended things by shaking hands.
A Confession and a Handshake
“The referee was on the flight with me on the way back,” Fury told
iFL TV. “… I said, ‘You made a mistake.’ And he
said to me, which was very important, he said, ‘Peter, I didn’t
hear the bell.’ I said, ‘Well, that I believe [that] because I
didn’t hear the bell either. I thought it was two seconds before…
I’ve gotta give the fellow the credit. I don’t wanna slate anybody.
I told him I believe he made a mistake. We shook hands.”