The biggest fight of the year, Fury vs Usyk 2, is just a few days away and the heavyweight title fight will go down in history as the first boxing bout to feature an AI judge.
The AI experiment will be "free from bias and human error" according to Turki Alalshikh the man behind the tool branded by Ring Magazine, which he purchased in November.
AI judging in boxing
AI models are trained on huge amounts of data, but that means there's a human element to the training that ultimately decides how any AI reacts to certain situations. Would an AI boxing judge's model lean in favor of specific fight styles? Would this lead to athletes evolving their skills to cater to an AI judge rather than the traditional aspects of the sport?
An AI judge in boxing is an intriguing development and one that might end up making its way into official scoring cards further down the line. I expect the best compromise is AI-powered monitoring of judges' scorecards to remove contentious decisions from the sport for good.
Looking for how to watch Fury vs Usyk 2? The first fight in May saw Oleksandr Usyk win by split decision in 12 rounds (115–112, 114–113, 113–114). As we head towards the second fight Fury is very slightly favored to win by some, but most critics find it hard to separate the two.
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