Boxing's 4th Judge: Delightful or Dystopian

Boxing history was made in more ways than one when Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury squared off for their second bout of 2024. The fight alone was a momentous occasion in the storied saga of the sweet science. Alongside that, there was- for the first time ever -a fourth judge, working independently from the regular three-man panel. 

Saudi Arabian advisor, Turki Alalshikh, announced prior to the fight that, in collaboration with the Ring Magazine, there would be a benign AI judge giving a scorecard “free from bias and human error.” It was stated that the “4th Judge” would not affect the outcome of the fight, but would be used experimentally, making its debut on the biggest fight of the year.

An anonymous survey was released on fan forums and public social media platforms and reported split opinions. 

One fan is on the fence about it, saying: “While I do think this is a bit of a controversial move going forward I think it’s worth it to see the possibilities of the future with scoring being so subjective”

Most wholeheartedly disagreed with the notion, one fan said: “It’s not a good idea. It can be rigged or influenced even easier than a human and will be more prone to problems. If it was to be tested it should be tested in unranked bouts, not such a career-defining fight.”, with another voice to the choir saying that “Artificial Intelligence is not developed enough to understand the concept of combat”, but added that “it may prove itself useful on December 21st.”

Two respondents have argued the opposite, one said: “A trial of something like this should be encouraged, as there’s been multiple fights given to the wrong person due to the mistakes of judges. An AI input could rule out any chance of bias which could be good for the sport going forward.”

The other said: “I think this is a great fight to test it on as opposed to unranked bouts. These are the two best heavyweights in the world; the AI won't be getting much better data samples.”

After the fight was said and done and the AI-generated scorecard was released, a poll was brought out alongside to gather the opinions of the fanbase. The fan opinions on the 118-112 AI scorecard in favour of Oleksandr Usyk was split down the middle. Out of six people total, three thought it was an accurate reflection of the fight, and three did not.