Boxing world fascinated by ‘AI judge’ used to score Fury-Usyk fight

The boxing world has reacted in disbelief to the first use of ultra modern technology in Oleksandr Usyk’s fight against Tyson Fury.

The future is now.

That was the consensus from boxing fans after an AI-powered judge was used to score the heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk defeated Fury in the heavyweight rematch in Saudi Arabia on Sunday (AEDT), claiming a second win over Fury this year and cementing his status as the top boxer on the planet right now.

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Fury came out firing and took the initiative in the early stages, but the fight swung in Usyk’s favour as he took control of the rounds as the fight went on.

Any time Fury would land a blow or look to dictate terms, Usyk would immediately respond with punches of his own and he was the more active fighter.

The three human judges all scored the fight 116-112 in Usyk’s favour, giving him a convincing victory after a split decision win over Fury in May.

Most pundits agreed Fury won about four rounds, mostly at the start of the fight, but the AI judge scored the fight even more in Usyk’s favour than the real judges.

After the official scores were read out, broadcaster DAZN flashed up a graphic with the AI judge handing Usyk the win 118-112.

It gave Tyson only two of the 12 rounds and had the first and 12th rounds an even 10-10, which you don’t see all that often in boxing.

The AI judge scored the fight 118-112 for Oleksandr Usyk 👀 #UsykFury2pic.twitter.com/HA87qM5EsW

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 21, 2024

The AI judge was tested during #Usyk2Fury but didn't have an impact on the official results. pic.twitter.com/GVWx1HAVIX

— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) December 21, 2024

boxing just made history by using AI as one of the judges in the much anticipated superheavy weight bout between Usyk and Fury. the future of sports is now. pic.twitter.com/QWz2E2M5dk

— EDDY V (@EddyVGG) December 21, 2024

Told the AI judge scored it 118-112 for Usyk, Fury said: “F*** all computers, keep humans going. More jobs for humans, less jobs for computers. F*** electric cars, too!”

Tyson raised his hand after the final round and was certain he did enough to win the fight.

He said: “I thought I won by at least three rounds!

“I thought I won the fight. I was on the front foot the entire time. When you don’t get the knockout this is what can happen.”

Fury’s promoter Frank Warren thought he was robbed: “How did Tyson only get four rounds in this fight. How is this possible? Nuts, I don’t get it. Really disappointed.”

“I thought he was in control of the fight, I thought he boxed really well and had Usyk on the back foot for a lot of the fight.”

The AI judge was used for the first time. Photo: X.

It used all sorts of instant data to come up with a score. Photo: X.

A boxing first, the AI-powered judge was introduced by Saudi officials in collaboration with boxing bible the Ring Magazine, which was recently purchased by Saudi businessman Turki Alalshikh.

The system aimed to be “free from bias and human error”.

The fourth AI judge was not used in an official capacity to score the fight.

In theory AI judging is a genius idea, given the frequent controversies in boxing scorecards, which can be a very subjective science for judges.

Boxing writer Adam Abramowitz posted: “The idea of an AI judge is hilarious. They can’t even get human experts to completely apply the scoring criteria, and yet these flawed humans are programming said AI.”

UFC legend Michael Bisping wrote on X ahead of the fight: “How we feel about an AI judge being used for the first time in one of the biggest fight of all time?

“Yeah it’s gonna be totally unbiased and accurate but could there be some kind of errors?”

Tyson Fury thought he deserved to win the fight. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Usyk’s record is now 23-0 with 14 knockouts.

The 37-year-old Ukrainian continues his all-time career that includes an Olympic gold medal, and becoming undisputed champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight.

Meanwhile, Fury’s career is at a crossroads. The 36-year-old Brit is an all-time great but his only two career losses have come this year to Usyk.

Usyk was called out by Daniel Dubois, who has the IBF heavyweight belt after it was relinquished by Usyk.

A fight with Dubois would likely happen before a potential trilogy fight with Fury.

Originally published as Boxing world fascinated by ‘AI judge’ used to score Fury-Usyk fight