AI Boxing Judge: How will it work in Usyk v Fury 2, what technology is being used & will it affect the result?

We take a closer look at how the 'revolutionary' AI (artificial intelligence) judge will impact this weekend's colossal heavyweight title rematch between former undisputed king Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.

Olesandr Usyk v Tyson Fury - AI Boxing Judge

Will an AI boxing judge be used for Oleksandr Usyk v Tyson Fury?

It has been announced that this weekend's world title rematch in Riyadh will feature an AI judge for the first time in professional boxing.

Now, don't worry, not just yet anyway, as the technology is only being trialled in the fight, and won't have any determining factor on who will win the bout if it goes to a judges decision - that will lie solely in the hands of the three ringside judges.

Speaking during fight week, Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority, posted on X (formerly Twitter):

“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.”

Who is behind boxing's trialled AI Judge?

The trial of the AI Boxing Judge is the brainchild of Turki Alalshikh, and the debut of the system represents his first major branded move since acquiring Ring Magazine from former owner Oscar De La Hoya in November, 2024.

Alalshikh has long championed the use of artificial intelligence in boxing to remove any potential bias or human error when determining winners of incredibly close, and too tight to call, professional bouts.

Two of the biggest fights in boxing history have recently been determined by close and potentially dubious judges calls, with Oleksandr Usyk edging a tightly-contested undisputed heavyweight championship affair with Tyson Fury in May, before Artur Beterbiev edged a razor thin decision over Dmitry Bivol for all of the light-heavyweight marbles in October.

AI Boxing Judge - Technology

Which company has produced the technology for the AI Boxing Judge?

Turki Alalshikh, nor Ring Magazine, have officially confirmed which system is being trialled this weekend, but it is commonly known that the technology has been ready and available for use for quite some time.

Danish-based company Jabbr have been speculated to be the organisation Alalshikh has opted to link-up with for the trial, with the company having already designed the AI technology for use across all combat sports, including boxing.

Their website states: "Over two years of intensive R&D efforts, we've built the world's first Computer Vision AI specifically designed for Combat Sports - we call it: 'DeepStrike'.

"With 'DeepStrike', we're going to make automatic content generation, stats, analytics, and professional level streaming, available to anyone and everyone.

"We believe that combat sports needs transparency and fairness. We believe that everyone deserves a chance to show the world how great they can be."

How does the AI Boxing Judge technology work?

AI technology in boxing will take a large number of factors into consideration before delivering its fight verdict.

Punch counts, stance of fighters, balance, distance, combination punching, quality of punches landed, power shots, pressure and aggression, as well as accuracy by combination will all be taken into account by the technology.

The technology can also be implemented on to previous fights to provide insightful video and statistical analysis.