Featured Image Credit: DAZN
Topics: Boxing, Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, Fan Reactions
Ryan Smart
The AI-powered judge scorecard for Oleksandr Usyk's unanimous decision victory over Tyson Fury has been revealed.
Usyk was awarded the fight 116-112 by all three judges, with one of the officials not giving Fury a single round past the sixth as stated by his promoter Frank Warren.
Warren said that he was 'dumbfounded' by the size of the result, and proceeded to figuratively tear apart each scorecard while live on-air with TNT Sports.
Fury, meanwhile, quickly exited the ring once Usyk's win was announced, though the Ukrainian had no concerns at all over the scorecards or the size of his victory, stating that he was the rightful winner.
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New for the fight in Saudi Arabia was an AI-powered judge, which used fighter movements, punches and data points to create an overall scorecard at the end of the bout.
In a video posted to Twitter by Turki Alalshikh, it was stated that the AI machine - powered by The Ring Magazine - would be 'free from bias and human error'.
But how did it rate the two fighters?
The AI judge in fact gave the win to Usyk, but by an even bigger margin than the three human judges.
It declared Usyk as the winner by a score of 118-112, giving both fighters a 10 score for both the first and final rounds.
The score will not be added to the official scorecard as the AI judge is, Alalshikh confirmed, a 'groundbreaking experiment' in use for the first time.
It has split opinion, with some fans on Twitter believing it got the score correct. Others, however, argue that it should be the last time we see such an experiment in boxing.
One wrote: "AI basically has my scorecard."
Another said: "Glad AI judges won't be coming in then, 10-10 rounds and a 118-112 scorecard ffs."
A third countered: "Moving forward should we have AI judges doing the official scorecards?"
But a fourth disagreed: "AI judge's first and last scorecard after that 118-112."
Thoughts on the AI judge's verdict? Let us know below in the comments.