"Free From Bias And Human Error” Now Says Turki Alalshikh

He Wants To Revolutionise The Sport With An AI Judge For Fury-Usyk 2 Bout As The Experiment

Turki Alalshikh looks on during the Middleweight fight between Josh Kelly and Ishmael Davis, on the Riyadh Season - Wembley Edition. He has introduced AI judge in Boxing sport / Getty Images.

By Isaac Nyamungu

The highly anticipated rematch between Usyk and Fury will be happening this coming Saturday, December 21 in Saudi Arabia. This fighting contest will bring 2024 to a close in the boxing arena.

Boxing has long been marked by contentious judging verdicts. Therefore, if entirely executed, the introduction of AI judges could have substantial ramifications for the sport. And maybe become a long-lasting solution.

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

His Excellency Turki declared the use of AI judge just a couple of days before the event in Riyadh, on his social networks, something that has left everyone astonished and with countless doubts.

Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, publicized the innovation in a post on X, and confirmed that it "won’t impact the official results".

Various human judges have become wildly criticized for questionable scorecards, and for more than a century, several people have seen them as a window into corruption and manipulation in the sport.

"For the first time ever, an AI-powered judge will monitor the fight," wrote Turki on X account.

“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, Usyk vs. Fury 2 ... Don’t miss history in the making,” he declared.

The utilization of an AI judge is Alalshikh's first use of The Ring Magazine branding since he acquired the publication from Oscar De La Hoya in November.

Leading boxing promoter Eddie Hearn recently weighed in on the use of an AI-powered scoring system. He portends that the technology will offer objective scorecard of the match, which could be used to compare to the human judges’ scorecards. 

“Anything we can do to evolve, anything we can do to improve scoring... I'm guessing it's in relation to some CompuBox stats or some sensory stats. But you can bet your life that if [Turki Alalshikh] is behind it, it's not gonna just be some geeza tapping a button," said Eddie Hearn during a recent interview

If fights are scored by an unbiased A.I. judge, it could deliver a level of definitiveness which is yet to be witnessed in boxing and combat sports overall. An A.I. judge is not the same, it could lead to more transparency.

"I think it will be interesting to see the difference. Don't be surprised if Saturday's controversial. Any close fight, let's hope the judging is bang on," added the boxing promoter.

Fury and Usyk will face off once again on December 21 for unified heavyweight glory.