Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury in their highly anticipated fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The fight was decided by unanimous decision. The AI judge had the same winner as the three human judges, Ignacio Robles (Panama), Patrick Morley (USA) and Gerardo Martinez (Puerto Rico). It scored the fight slightly more in favor of the Usyk, computing a 118-112 score after 12 rounds. “Not sure AI knows boxing,” responded a user to the decision on X
For the first time in boxing history, a fight was scored by artificial intelligence.
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, announced in a post on X that the “groundbreaking experiment” would happen during the Oleksandr Usyk versus Tyson Fury rematch.
A fourth judge, powered by AI, was promised to score the fight “free from bias and human error.”
Based on fans’ reactions to the AI judge’s scorecard in the Oleksandr Usyk versus Tyson Fury fight on Saturday, the new technology did little to quiet any subjective debates about the decision.
Usyk retained his WBC, WBO and WBA heavyweight world titles by unanimous judge’s decision (116-112, 116-112, 116-112).
The AI judge had the same winner as the three human judges, Ignacio Robles (Panama), Patrick Morley (USA) and Gerardo Martinez (Puerto Rico). It scored the fight slightly more in favor of the Usyk, computing a 118-112 score after 12 rounds.
“Not sure AI knows boxing,” responded a user to the decision on X.
“I’m not a fan of AI, but this time the AI did its job and got it right,” countered a different reply. “Usyk is the best of this generation of boxers, hands down!”
The AI judge scored it 118-112 to Oleksandr Usyk 👀#UsykFury2 #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/IKH18xQt0z
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) December 21, 2024
After the fight, Fury said he thought he won “by at least three rounds.” Plenty of fans agreed despite the convincing score the unbiased AI judge came up with.
“AI needs some work mate I honestly thought Fury got it,” disputed a fan.
“Gave round 10 to Usyk,” criticized another user. “Get it gone.”
The AI judge scored it 118-112 to Oleksandr Usyk 👀#UsykFury2 #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/IKH18xQt0z
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) December 21, 2024
Reactions to the use of AI in general fell on all ends of the spectrum, with fans calling the experiment everything from “woke nonsense” to “realistic.”
With fans unable to reach a consensus on the artificial judge even after a somewhat straightforward fight, it appears there is a long way to go before the technology can be used to officially decide outcomes in such a subjective sport.
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