Tyson Fury won the beard fight ahead of his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

The “Gypsy King” has vehemently opposed Usyk’s team’s demands to reduce his facial hair ahead of their heavyweight title rematch and will enter the ring with his beard intact, according to Frank Warren. Speaking to Sky Sports, Warren explained: “He has a beard and there have been a lot of players over the years who have struggled with beards and that’s all.”

Furthermore, promoter Warren revealed that Usyk would not be allowed to place a crucifix at ringside, a gift from Greek monks. Usyk, who visibly kissed the cross during the previous match, claiming that it improved his performance, will not be able to exploit this potential source of inspiration this time.

Warren explained the situation: “There was a lot of speculation after the fight, they weren’t sure what it was. We just went through it all. If something other than water is being used in the athlete’s mouth, the inspector will take the athlete away and hold him, and if they find something wrong, they will look into it, test it, whatever it is, whatever they have to do.

Fury’s team asked for clarification on low blows ahead of Friday’s rules meeting. They want to avoid a repeat of the controversy that emerged when Usyk was hit with a low blow by Daniel Dubois in their 2023 fight. Warren commented: “This is what is considered a low blow or not. Anything below the navel is a low blow, and many players wear their shorts higher, which sometimes leads to, you might say, confusion, as was the case with Usyk and Daniel Dubois.

“There was a problem in this fight and we don’t want that to happen, neither does the other side, so the referee made it very clear, what the referee didn’t explain in the previous fight, he didn’t come and give some instructions in the boxers’ locker rooms to make sure everyone understand this explanation and that we know what a low blow is.”

Tyson Fury’s eagerly awaited rematch with Oleksandr Usyk brought an unexpected change in the judging panel after one of the judges fell ill.

Steve Weisfeld from Modern Jersey replaced Fernando Barbosa from Miami, who was unable to make it to Riyadh for the fight. In addition to Weisfeld, American Patrick Morley and Gerardo Martinez from Puerto Rico will score the goals, and the referee will be their compatriot Roberto Ramirez.

In their first meeting last May, Usyk emerged victorious with scores of 114-113 from Mike Fitzgerald and 115-112 from Manuel Oliver Palomo in Usyk’s favor, while Craig Metcalfe edged Fury’s score 114-113. Determined to settle the score, Fury is set to face his heavyweight rival Usyk in the ring again this Saturday night in Riyad.

In a surprise move ahead of the WBA, WBO and WBC heavyweight bout, Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh revealed that an unprecedented fourth judge would score the fight using artificial intelligence technology, ensuring a bias-free and error-free evaluation by The Ring. Alalshikh took to social media to announce this historic fight, which will have no impact on the official results as the final decision will still rest with the three judges in the ring if the fight goes to 12 rounds.

He expressed his innovation on social media: “For the first time in history, the fight will be monitored by a referee using artificial intelligence. Free from bias and human error that The Ring provides. This groundbreaking experiment, which will have no impact on official results, will debut during the biggest fight of the century, #Usyk2Fury, on December 21. Don’t miss history in the making.”

Fury was defeated by Usyk in their first clash in May, which changed the vigorous dramatically in the ninth round when the Ukrainian fighter took control. Despite two judge defeats, with only one judge favoring Fury, he remains confident of going into the rematch with three of his four world titles at stake.

He says he doesn’t have to drastically change his strategy to regain the title. “I’m just going to exploit boxing like I did last time. “I’m not going to do anything drastic, like completely change the game plan, because it’s not necessary,” he said. “If it was five, six or seven rounds the other way and it was a landslide, that’s fine. Then I would have to change something drastically. But since it was a very close fight, I don’t really have to change much. I just have to be a little more focused and that’s all. Why would I change anything when I had control of the fight maybe 80 percent of the time?

He added: “I land on it at will, head and body, I deliver a right uppercut, a left hook, a right hook to the body. Sometimes he plays double. I don’t feel the need to change anything. I don’t think so. Usyk will also change, because the key to victory will be attacking. He won’t attack me offensively, so he has to come forward and fight.

Tyson Fury will lose almost half of his earnings after the highly anticipated rematch with Oleksandr Usyk. The 36-year-old British boxer is expected to earn around £60 million for fighting the Ukrainian in Saudi Arabia.

However, if Usyk, who handed Fury a split decision victory in their first meeting in May, wins again, it won’t be the only thing Fury will lose. According to data analyst JeffBeta, Fury will receive almost £30 million in prize money deducted by the taxman for income tax and national insurance, which he will have to pay when he returns to the UK.

In total, around 47 per cent of his winnings will go to HM Revenue and Customs. He will have to pay around £28 million in tax and an additional £1.2 million in National Insurance contributions.

The fight purse shared by Usyk and Fury is believed to be valued at a staggering £150 million. With a victory in the first fight, Usyk is expected to take home a larger share of the purse, estimated at around 60 percent.

Discussing the tax treatment of Fury’s earnings, a JeffBet spokesperson commented: “If you are a UK resident you must pay tax on your earnings abroad in the same way and this remains the same regardless of how much someone may earn.

“Good tax advice is always crucial and in this case you can be sure that the Fury camp will consider the most advantageous deal.”

While financial aspects play their part, Fury, better known as the Gypsy King, is determined to fix his only professional failure. He recently confessed that he had not spoken to his wife Paris for three months in order to maintain absolute concentration.

On his approach to the upcoming fight, Fury revealed: “If anything, a little more focus. More laser focus and less clowning around.

“If I put two things into my game plan, it will be a little more effective. There are no large advantages here. They only gave him a point [it could have been] either way, split decision, draw, whatever. So there’s not much we can change easily.

“But how about this one? How about I won the round 10-8 in round nine? This is no longer a draw or a one-point victory, it is a decisive victory. A little less cheating and a little more focus, laser focus and I should get my job done.

This article first appeared Take back the USA.