Boxing referee Mark Lyson has been slammed after waving off the Oleksandr Usyk–Rico Verhoeven fight at the end of the 11th round, a stoppage that lifted Usyk and drew accusations ranging from bad judgment to rigging claims. But Lyson’s past calls—praised in so
Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven stared each other down for several minutes after the final press conference in Egypt. Saturday, May 23, the tension moved from the camera to the ring—then landed on referee Mark Lyson.
Lyson waved off the fight at the end of the 11th round. a call that turned Usyk’s victory into a flashpoint. The stoppage sparked unfounded accusations that the fight was rigged. It also fueled heavy criticism aimed at Lyson’s judgment for denying Verhoeven the 12th round in what some fans viewed as a potentially historic upset.
For the public, the controversy has felt personal because Lyson’s work has not always drawn this kind of fury. In a bout he handled in November 2021, his refereeing drew widespread praise—yet the aftermath of Usyk vs. Verhoeven has offered little comfort to those who remember that earlier performance.
The other fight under the microscope ended in a different kind of split-second moment. It was a super featherweight title bout between American Alycia Baumgardner and Britain’s Terri Harper. In the fourth round, Baumgardner hit Harper with a vicious right hand. Harper looked almost catatonic as Baumgardner moved in for another punch, before Lyson intervened.
Lyson protected Harper and waved off the fight.
“Having great referees is so damn important for the health and safety of fighters,” famed ring announcer Michael Buffer said.
One boxing fan, @robwaldon, wrote that Lyson’s officiating saved Harper from brain damage.
Still. the same Lyson name now carries the opposite gravity—another stoppage. another crowd judgment—because Canelo Alvarez described what he saw as a different kind of rescue. After the right-hand moment, Alvarez said, “I don’t think [the stoppage was early]. I think they saved him from a brutal knockout.”.
Teddy Atlas, the boxing analyst and former trainer, pushed back against the harshest critiques too, saying: “I really believe the referee already made up his mind simultaneously as the bell was about to ring, the referee was already ready to stop it. So you can’t blame him.”
The pattern that angers fans now isn’t just about whether stoppages are made—it’s about when they’re made, and what that timing means in a sport where a round can decide everything.
In 2021, Lyson’s officiating already carried both praise and controversy, side by side. In March 2021, he refereed a British lightweight title fight between Maxi Hughes and Paul Hyland Jr. with a knock out of Hyland as the centerpiece.
According to talkSport, in the eighth round Hyland took a hook to the body and appeared to be going down. Lyson jumped in and directed Hughes to the neutral corner before noticing Hyland had recovered before touching the canvas. Hyland then had his back turned when Hughes raced him and knocked him out with a right hook to the head—after Hyland. seemingly aware that Lyson had changed his mind.
Other critics have pointed to an entirely different episode around Lyson as evidence that control can slip into chaos. In a flyweight title bout between Britain’s Charlie Edwards and Mexico’s Julio Cesar Martinez, Edwards received a barrage of punches in the third round and crumpled to the canvas.
Martinez then pounded Edwards again with an illegal shot to the ribs. Instead of calling the foul, Lyson called the fight. Controversy followed, and the bout was ruled a no-contest.
Those mixed outcomes have helped explain why Lyson is now stuck with competing narratives: one camp treats him as a protector acting in time; the other treats him as a judge who misread danger and moments that could have decided a different future.
That split is visible in the words of Tony Bellew, the British boxer who held the WBC cruiserweight title in 2016 and 2017. Bellew spoke out when Lyson protected Harper with a stoppage. “Mark Lyson deserves all the credit in the world,” he said. “It was a brilliant, brilliant call.”
Yet last weekend, during DAZN’s broadcast of the Usyk–Verhoeven fight, Bellew offered thoughts amid the fury aimed at Lyson.
“He’s a top referee,” Bellew said. “he’s human.”
Back in the aftermath of the Egypt press moment, the furious debate has moved quickly from the ring to reputations. Lyson’s defenders have leaned on safety and timing—while critics have focused on a single turn of the fight ending at the 11th. with Verhoeven left without the 12th round they believed he needed.
Mark Lyson Oleksandr Usyk Rico Verhoeven Alycia Baumgardner Terri Harper Canelo Alvarez Teddy Atlas DAZN Michael Buffer Tony Bellew