An AI-powered judge will be trialled during Saturday’s heavyweight title rematch between WBO, WBC and WBA champion Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in Riyadh.
The verdict of the AI judge will not contribute to the official outcome of the bout but is a first for a sport where the scoring often leads to controversy.
Should the fight go the distance at Kingdom Arena then the result will be determined by the usual three ringside judges. However, the presence of the technology adds a fascinating element to the event and provides a glimpse of what the future of scoring could look like.
The trial was announced on Tuesday night by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and the driving force behind the Riyadh Season boxing events.
He posted on X: “For the first time ever, an AI-powered judge will monitor the fight. Free from bias and human error brought to you by The Ring [magazine]. This ground-breaking experiment, which won’t impact the official results, debuts during the biggest fight of the century.”
While it is not clear who is providing the technology or exactly how it will work, several companies have been attempting to develop effective AI solutions for scoring in combat sports.
It is claimed the technology is capable of discerning between those punches that land, partially land, are blocked or parried, or miss entirely. Measuring the velocity and the force of the blows is also factored in.
World Boxing, a breakaway international federation hoping to secure recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to run amateur boxing, revealed in September they would embrace the latest technology in a bid clean up the sport’s reputation. Scoring in amateur boxing has been even more maligned than in the professional ranks.
“What we are now exploring is using modern technology like AI to make judging more transparent,” World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst told the Press Trust of India in September.
“There are very interesting projects that have already started to make judging more objective than subjective. We have to rebuild some trust. I agree there is trust deficiency but we are working on modern technology to build that.”
When the two rivals first met in May, it was Usyk who prevailed thanks to a split decision on the cards. One judge scored the fight 114-113 for Fury and the other two had it 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk.
Boxing is typically scored by three ringside judges using what is known as the '10-point must system', where at least one fighter each round is awarded 10 points, unless a point deduction occurs.
The other fighter is usually awarded nine points, but the more dominant the winner of the round, the lower the score of their opponent. Rounds where a fighter is knocked down are usually scored 10-8 in favour of the aggressor.
