John Fury has had his say on Oleksandr Usyk’s performance against Rico Verhoeven, who he believes was always likely to pose the Ukrainian problems.

The pair squared off in a surprisingly competitive heavyweight contest last month, which many had predicted would result in an emphatic victory for Usyk.

In the end, the 39-year-old did emerge triumphant, via an 11th-round stoppage, but was given no easy route to retain his WBC, IBF and WBA world titles.

In fact, Verhoeven had built a slight lead on one of the judges’ scorecards, while the other two had it 95-95 after 10 completed frames.

Usyk then swung the momentum back in his favour, flooring the ex kickboxing champion with a right uppercut, before referee Mark Lyson stopped Verhoeven on his feet. The finish came after the round had ended, with Lyson later admitting that he had not heard the bell.

Verhoeven, meanwhile, had given a terrific account of himself but was unsurprisingly aggrieved by the result, describing it as an early intervention while insisting he could have entered round 12.

In any case, Usyk has largely been criticised for his performance, while John Fury has told Seconds Out that the three-time undisputed champion deserves far more credit.

“At the end of the day, [Verhoeven] posed problems. He’s a 6ft 6in athlete who trains like a demon, [is] strong as a bull and game as a badger.

“[He’s a] world champion kickboxer – I don’t know who said he had no chance. You’ve got to give Usyk credit because he’s only a [blown-up] cruiserweight.

“He just seems to get the job done, and he got the job done [against Verhoeven], so fair play to Usyk. But the referee stopped Rico’s corner from doing their job.

“Let the corner judge him – they know if their man can come out for the next round or not.”

As the brother of Verhoeven’s head coach, Peter Fury, John clearly feels that the Dutchman’s corner would have made a logical decision.

While the Dutchman calls for a rematch, Usyk must decide whether or not to comply with a WBC mandatory order to face Agit Kabayel next. Should he opt for a second fight with Verhoeven instead, which many in the sport have advised him to do, he risks being stripped of the WBC title.