In a groundbreaking moment for boxing, an AI referee will oversee the highly anticipated rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, set to take place in Saudi Arabia this weekend. This will be the first time in boxing history that artificial intelligence will play a role in judging a major fight.
The rematch is crucial for both fighters, as Fury aims to reclaim his world heavyweight titles from Usyk. The fight will take place on December 21 in Riyadh, and it promises to be an exciting showdown.
As usual, three human judges will score the fight, but this time, a fourth “judge” will join the ring: an AI referee. This AI won’t have any official say in the outcome, but its scores will be shown alongside those of the human judges, giving fans a chance to compare the two.
The AI judge has been designed to analyze every aspect of the fight. It will track factors like landed punches, aggression, defense, and the overall impact of each round. Using this data, the AI will generate its own scorecard in real-time, offering a fresh perspective on the fight.
This new technology has sparked excitement and some debate on social media. Some fans believe this could eliminate controversial decisions by judges, while others are more cautious, remembering how technology in other sports like VAR (Video Assistant Referee) has sometimes caused problems.
Saudi sports official Turki Alalshikh shared a video introducing the AI judge, explaining that it’s part of an experiment to see how AI can improve fairness in boxing. “I’m here to bring fairness to the ring,” the AI’s robotic voice says in the video. “I analyze every round, every move, and every decisive moment during the fight.”
While the robot’s judgment won’t count toward the official result, fans will be able to see how its score compares to the human judges. This adds an exciting new twist for viewers to follow during the fight.
Tyson Fury, who lost to Usyk in a controversial decision earlier this year, has vowed not to leave anything to chance this time. “I’m going to knock that motherf****r out,” Fury said, adding that he’s going into the ring with a “destroy mode” mindset.
The inclusion of AI as a judge is making waves, and it will be interesting to see how it changes the way we watch and think about boxing in the future. Will the AI score the fight in a way that matches the human judges, or will it reveal something the humans missed? This experiment will surely spark conversation long after the fight is over.
