Referee in Usyk v Verhoeven fight had seen enough to stop fight in 11th round before bell sounded

The ruling added Lyson stated unequivocally: “I decided I wanted to stop the contest… I had already seen enough.”

The commission also stressed how the referee had the authority to end a contest whenever they saw fit.

“Under its rules the referee is the sole arbiter of the contest and retains the full and unfettered right to stop the contest at any time,” it said.

“There is no distinction in authority or effect between a stoppage effected during the round and a stoppage effected between rounds or during the rest period.”

A timing discrepancy identified by official timekeeper Brad William also did not meet the commission’s threshold to overturn the referee’s discretionary decision.

The panel acknowledged William’s evidence, but said “even if the physical wave-off occurred fractionally after the bell, this is, at its highest, a procedural timing discrepancy. It does not constitute bad faith, corruption, fraud, or arbitrariness”.

The scorecards at the time of the fight ending read 95-95, 95-95 and 96-94 to kickboxing legend Verhoeven.

Medical evidence given by Dr Neil Scott confirmed Verhoeven, in just his second professional boxing fight, was medically stable after the contest and did not undermine the referee’s real-time safety assessment.

“There is no evidence of bad faith, malice, corruption, fraud, partiality, or any want of integrity on the part of Referee Mark Lyson,” the commission added.

Verhoeven said fans were denied a 12th round between himself and unified heavyweight world champion Usyk and there should be an immediate rematch.