The heavyweight rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on December 21, 2024, marked a significant innovation in professional boxing, featuring the unprecedented use of an AI judge alongside traditional human judging. This experiment, announced by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, aimed to address concerns about bias and errors often associated with human judges.
Throughout the bout held at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, the AI's role was captured via social media where it was described as being free from human errors. "For the first time ever, an AI-powered judge will monitor the fight," stated Alalshikh before the match, indicating it was part of a larger vision for the sport. The AI's algorithm was programmed to track every round and analyze significant moments, creating scoring metrics based on real-time data.
Fury and Usyk's first encounter had already set the stage for this rematch. Usyk handed Fury the first defeat of his career via split decision during their fight earlier. This time, as the fighters entered the ring, expectations were high, especially with Fury claiming he would aim for a knockout rather than rely on judges' decisions. “I’m going to go in there with destroy mode,” he said earnestly.
The controversy began as the results played out, where human judges scored the rematch 116-112 across the board, all favoring Usyk. Surprisingly, the AI judge leaned even more heavily toward Usyk, giving him the fight 118-112. Its scoring raised eyebrows, as it credited Usyk for higher activity and effective aggression throughout the match.
US Task Force members had already expressed concerns about the potential of AI scoring, and the responses from the fight's audience underscored divided opinions about this technological intrusion. Some praised the AI’s objectivity, wondering if this might lead to future changes within the sport. "This could redefine the future of boxing," one enthusiast wrote on social media.
Tyson Fury, on the other hand, vocally opposed the AI’s involvement, dismissively referring to it as "absolutely sht". His candid remarks echoed throughout the post-fight press conference, where he stated, "F*k all computers. Keep the humans going. More jobs for humans, less jobs for computers." Fury's replies conveyed frustration not only with the AI but also with the decision of the human judges, whom he felt had failed to recognize his contributions during the fight. "The judges gave him a Christmas gift,” he remarked, hinting at perceived favoritism against him.
While the AI judged it positively for Usyk, it only awarded Fury the first, second, fifth, and twelfth rounds, showcasing just how drastically the AI's metrics diverged from human perception. The distinct discrepancy fueled discussions on whether AI technology should play any role, formal or experimental, in elite boxing matches.
Post-fight media buzz highlighted both the innovations and the pitfalls of AI judging—the unprecedented nature may have sparked intrigue yet also concern about integrity, the historical traditions of boxing, and the essence of human judgment within sports.
Some critics, including Fury, questioned the effectiveness of AI application within such subjective arenas. Mixed reactions across the platforms painted the AI’s first effort as either historic achievement or misguided experiment, invoking wide-ranging thoughts on the future of the boxing sport where technology and tradition intersect.
Overall, whether AI judging will persist within boxing remains uncertain. For now, the experiment will be remembered as the fight where traditional scoring faced its biggest challenge yet—an experimental AI judging system brought to bear within the heavyweight division, marking potentially the beginning of significant changes for the sport.
