Tyson Fury Vs. Oleksandr Usyk 2 Will Experiment With An AI Judge (UPDATE)

The rematch between WBC, WBO, and WBA heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will be used for an experiment.

After speaking directly with representatives from Jabbr, this article has been updated.

Thanks to Saudi powerbroker, for the first time, an A.I. judge will score a professional fight. The A.I. judge’s scores will not factor into the official decision, but according to Alalshikh, who is powering the A.I. judge branded by the newly purchased Ring Magazine, the system will be “free from bias and human error.”

The use of the A.I. judge is Alalshikh’s first Ring Magazine branded move since purchasing the publication from Oscar De La Hoya in November. It will be interesting to see how it is implemented and if it will become a staple of the sport in the next few years.

Many human judges have become wildly maligned for egregious scorecards, and for more than a century, many have seen them as a window into corruption in the sport.

If fights are scored by an unbiased A.I. judge, it could deliver a level of definitiveness we’ve yet to see in boxing and combat sports overall. I’ve long been a proponent of open scoring, and while an A.I. judge is not the same, it could lead to more transparency.

Once fighters, trainers, and promoters learn the A.I. judging criteria well, they can train and prepare boxers to do what’s necessary to definitively win rounds. Including open scoring would remove all of the guesswork.

Could we be moving toward the day when we see a major boxing match judged entirely by A.I. judges that reveal the scores following each round? That evolution makes sense, and the technology to deliver that concept is already available.

UPDATE — December 20 : 2pm ET

There was previous speculation the A.I judge would come from technology developed by Jabbr. That is not the case.

I spoke with representatives from Jabbr. They are not related to this A.I. judge or the Usyk-Fury 2 event in any way. “It’s great to see A.I. judging explored, but this has no relation to us,” said one representative and engineer who works closely with the product.

It’s possible the Ring-branded A.I. comes from a different company or has been independently developed by someone or a group who is a part of Alalshikh’s team.

END OF UPDATE

I’d expect to see some major announcements associated with The Ring soon considering the website is set to relaunch at midnight CT on December 18.

In any case, all eyes will be on the scores delivered by the fourth judge on Saturday in Riyadh.

I’m hoping the A.I. judge’s scores are kept a secret until the end of the main event. I’d love to see the fourth judge’s scores shared after each round, similar to the way the top color analyst’s score is shared during the fight. It would be cool for fans to have an opportunity to compare the A.I. judge’s scorecards to Chris Mannix’s unofficial tally.

In any event, if you needed another reason to be interested in the rematch for three-quarters of the heavyweight championship, perhaps the A.I. judge will do the trick.