Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight hit by late change day before rematch
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Tyson Fury’s clash with Oleksandr Usyk has seen a late judging change after one of the officials took ill and failed to make the trip to Riyadh. New Jersey’s Steve Weisfeld has now stepped in to replace Miami’s Fernando Barbosa, who was not well enough to travel. Weisfeld will score the clash with fellow American Patrick Morley & Puerto Rico’s Gerardo Martinez. The referee for the WBA, WBO and WBC heavyweight clash is Puerto Rico’s Roberto Ramirez.
Usyk won the first fight back in May with Mike Fitzgerald scoring the bout 114-113 and Manuel Oliver Palomo marking it 115-112 in his favour while Craig Metclaffe scored it 114-113 to Fury. Fury will attempt to avenge his May defeat by Usyk when the heavyweight rivals reconvene in the Riyadh ring on Saturday night. And Saudi boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh has revealed a fourth official will score the fight - but it will NOT count towards the official result, which will still come down to three ringside judges if the bout goes the 12-round distance.
Alalshikh took to social media to announce: "For the first time ever, an AI-powered judge will monitor the fight. Free from bias and human error brought to you by The Ring. This groundbreaking experiment, which won’t impact the official results, debuts during the biggest fight of the century, #Usyk2Fury, on December 21. Don’t miss history in the making.".
Fury was beaten by Usyk in their first meeting in May after a fight of two halves. The Brit was in charge of the undisputed clash until it swung in the ninth round as the Ukrainian took control. Usyk went on to win on two of the judges' scorecards while the third gave Fury the nod.
