Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Tyson Fury on Saturday night will go down in history for several reasons, but now there are more of them than any other.

Turki Alalshikh has confirmed that the Usyk vs. Fury 2 fight will be supervised by an AI referee in a first-of-its-kind boxing event. Artificial intelligence statistics are nothing recent in sports and have been developed for years by companies such as JABBR, which claim that “technological progress eliminates elements of human error from sports.”

AI referee overseeing the Usyk vs Fury 2 fight

Riyad’s season leader, Alalshikh, has taken the first step to ensure the future of the sport where all boxers who deserve to win receive their reward. The fourth scorer will only be present this time to check the score, but if he proves successful, he may become a indefinite player in the sport.

Explaining his intentions, Alalshikh said: “For the first time in history, the fight will be monitored by an artificial intelligence referee. [The judge will be] Free from bias and human error, which The Ring offers you [his recently purchased magazine].

“This groundbreaking experiment, which will have no impact on official results, will debut during the biggest fight of the century, Usyk vs. Fury 2, on December 21. Don’t miss the history in the making,” he added.

The news came during the Grand Arrivals event, which featured a monumental clash that will see Usyk and Fury fight for a unified heavyweight crown at the Kingdom Arena. Usyk [20-0, 13 KOs] puts his WBC, WBA and WBO belts on the line against former two-time heavyweight champion Fury [33-1-1, 24 KOs]. The highly anticipated rematch will take place on Saturday, December 21, worldwide on DAZN PPV at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Usyk vs Fury card information updated

Former interim WBC 154-pound titleholder Serhii Bohachuk [24-2, 23 KOs] Now he will face British boxer Ishmael Davis [13-1, 6 KOs] in a 12-round super welterweight fight after Israil Madrimov was forced to withdraw due to illness.

Rising heavyweight star Moses Itauma [22-0, 10 KOs] and his opponent, Australian Demsey McKean (22-1, 14 KO), are ready to fight. Undefeated Johnny Fisher [12-0, 11 KOs[ squares off against former Commonwealth title challenger Dave Allen [23-6, 18 KOs].

Meanwhile, former Commonwealth Games gold medalist Peter McGrail [10-1, 6 KOs] takes over from Rhys Edwards at the last minute [16-0, 4 KOs] in a super featherweight fight. Isaac Lowe is also on the bill [25-2-3, 8 KOs[ will face Lee McGregor [14-1-1, 11 KOs] in a featherweight fight.

Daniel Lapin completes the card [10-0, 4 KOs]in which he will face another undefeated lightweight champion prospect, Dylan Colin [14-0, 4 KOs]and heavyweight knockout artist Andrii Novytskyi [14-0, 10 KOs] will face Edgar Ramirez [10-1-1, 4 KOs].

As is the tradition of the season, Riyad will feature local talent as Mohammed Alakel looks for a 2-0 win over Joshua Ocampo [8-33-5, 6 KOs].

Former two-time world champion and cancer survivor Billy Dib won an eight-round super lightweight farewell bout against Game, the brave but outclassed Atilla Kayabasi.

The Z’s, aka all-time greats Carlos Zarate and Alfonso Zamora, brought “Billy The Kid” to the ring accompanied by the sweet tones of Frank Sinatra singing My…what else? Adolescent Bridger Walker performed Round Card duties between rounds.

Billy gave us a virtuoso performance, making Atilla’s face turn red with every strike on the book. The gulf of experience and a cascade of blows would have defeated a weaker man, Atilla survived it. Billy raised his hand moments before the bell rang to end the eighth and final round.

By winning his last fight, the WBC Champion of Hope achieved the impossible. He and Atilla embraced, and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman entered the ring to say: “This is an extraordinary dream come true. Now we welcome Billy outside the ring.”

Dib said, “Alhamdulillah, I won and left on my own terms. There’s no better way to close this chapter. Thank you to Mauricio Sulaiman, my wife, my son Laith, my family and my amazing fans for all the love. I dedicate this victory to Israel Vázquez, every cancer warrior, and to my brother Vames.”

Billy brave. Billy the fearless one who fought against the darkest and most pressing adversities. Our tears of joy and admiration for the Hero who always smiles, even in the darkest hour, before the dawn.

The results of the glorious fight night organized at the 62nd World Boxing Council Convention at the Grand Elysee Hotel saw several hard-fought fights for the WBC championship from nuclear to heavyweight.

In the main fight of the evening, WBC super flyweight champion Asley González successfully defended her title against Mary Romero.

The more compact and harder-hitting Asley pursued a longer-armed, short-haired opponent who was constantly spinning in retreat.

There was some heated exchanges when they came together, but the lasting combinations came from Asley, who actually got caught with some tough, but single, solitary rights. Her level of work, more precise, concise beam punches and high-pressure fighting forcing Mary to constantly retreat won UD over.

Tough-hitting southpaw striker Mourad Aliev defended his WBC International Silver heavyweight title with a sixth-round KO victory over Davide Brito. Physically more imposing, Mourad made contact and often.

In the third round, David suffered a nosebleed and his mouthguard was broken, causing him to fall from one side of the ring to the other. He tried to fight back sporadically, but in round six he was trapped on the ropes and dropped by a massive right hand. Everything is over.

Serkay Comert won the WBC International silver title by defeating Yassin Hermi via UD. In the third round, it turned into an all-out war, which continued into the next round.

Serkay often struggled against the ropes and landed frequently. Yassin’s face swelled and in the sixth round a series of punches landed on him, and before the eighth round the ring doctor looked at him for a long time. He fought tough but got hit, especially down the stretch.

Ermal Hadribeaj won the MD title by defeating Eddy Colnenares to win the WBC International super welterweight belt. The lanky, much taller Eddy, who has the reach of an albatross, was shaky for the first three rounds. He then came to life and there was a lively exchange of words.

Southpaw Ermal was constantly jumping and weaving to avoid those long ramrod arms. He was more concerned with getting the win.

Benjamin Gavazi defeated Branimir Malencia in the tenth and final round to win the WBC international silver featherlight heavyweight title. Ben was catching Bran with right hands and various uppercuts. While Bran tried to crowd him and deal damage from head to toe. Two left-right headshot combinations in round ten convinced Bran to throw in the red towel at 1.41. So… TKO.

Esneidy Rodriguez defeated Sana Hazuki via UD for the WBC Silver Atomweight belt. The taller Suri tried to keep him at bay, but was relentlessly pursued by the more compact and powerful and grimly determined Esneidy, who landed several piercing combos and uppercuts. Suri had some success with long straight rights, but paid the price when Esneidy negated the range.

In the fight of the year candidate, which delivered on its promise to give fans 12 rounds of all-out war, NABO welterweight champion Alexis “Lex” Rocha (25-2-1, 16 KO) and knockout artist and NABF welterweight titleholder Raul “El Cugar” Curiel (15-0-1, 13 KO) closed the Golden Boy 2024 gala with a bang.

The toe-to-toe fight ended in a majority draw, with the judges scoring it 114-114, 114-114 and 116-112 for Rocha. The shootout took place live at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California and was broadcast worldwide on DAZN.

“I want to fight this fight again and then hopefully fight for the world title,” Rocha said. “I know I did enough to win. The rounds were very close; Unfortunately, tonight didn’t go the way I wanted. I want a rematch – it was a good fight and I want to do it again.”

“I definitely felt like I did everything I had to do to win that fight,” Curiel said. “I’m sure he would say the same. Ultimately, the best judges are the fans and judging by the audience’s reactions, they won today. I hope that next year we will be able to repeat this result. For now, I want to enjoy the holidays with my family.”

In the co-main event, still undefeated world title challenger Charles “Bad News” Conwell (21-0, 16 KO) continued his knockout streak, defeating previously undefeated and tough Gerardo Vergara (20-1, 13 KO) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Scheduled for a 10-round super welterweight fight, Conwell stopped at 2:51 of the seventh round after landing a devastating series of combinations.

American Olympic medalist and former collegiate world champion Marlen Esparza (15-2, 1 KO) proved that she still has a lot to offer in the sport with a unanimous victory over four-time world champion Arely “Ametralladora” Mucino (32-5- 32-5-). 2, 11 KO) from Monterrey, Mexico. The 10-round super flyweight went the distance, with the judges scoring the fight 98-92, 98-92 and 97-93. Opening the DAZN broadcast, Victor “El Tornado” Morales (20-0-1, 10 KO) from Vancouver, Canada and Ensenada, Jose Ortiz from Mexico (16-3-1, 6 KO) fought a scheduled 10-round fight in a weight match super featherweight. The fight was stopped by the doctor in the first second of the eighth round due to a cut sustained from a punch in the second round which affected Ortiz’s vision, awarding the TKO victory to Morales.

During the Golden Boy Fight Night: Rocha vs. Curiel Prelims gala broadcast live on the Golden Boy YouTube channel in Tijuana, Mexican Jorge “El Niño De Oro” Chavez (13-0, 8 KOs) improved his record in a fierce fight with Ruben Casero (12 -4, 4 KO) from Colonia, Uruguay. The eight-round super bantamweight fight was full of back-and-forth action, with Chavez scoring two knockdowns in round one and Casero coming back to life. All three judges scored the fight 80-70 in favor of Chavez.

Also in the qualifiers, Ricardo Ruvalcaba of California (13-0-1, 10 KO) and Jabin Chollet of San Diego (10-2, 8 KO) went the distance in an eight-round welterweight fight. Ruvalcaba was successful, securing a unanimous victory from the judges on scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 80-72. Sonora from Mexico Gael “El Terror” Cabrera (6-0, 4 KO) surprised fight fans with a successful fight against former world title challenger from General Santos City in the Philippines, Garen Diagan (10-6, 5 KO). Scheduled for a six-round bantamweight fight, Diagan hit the canvas in the second round with a powerful right hand from Cabrera and was unable to recover. Cabrera took the win after the break in 2:59.

In an upset victory, Uhlices Avelino-Reyes (3-1, 2 KO) of Omaha, Nebraska defeated Joshua “El Americano” Garcia (9-1, 4 KO) of Moreno Valley. Scheduled for a six-round lightweight fight, Garcia tried the canvas three times; once in the first round and twice in the second, with a corner kick ultimately ending the fight at 2:04 of the second. In a four-round middleweight fight, top-ranked Fabian Guzman (6-0.6 KO) of Orange continued his knockout streak against Travis Floyd (4-12-2, 1 KO) of Douglasville, Georgia. Guzman’s power was too much for Floyd and the fight only lasted until 2:28 of the second round. Javier Meza from Amarillo, Texas (1-0, 1 KO) will make his debut in the opening fight of the evening by knockout in a successful defeat against David Music from Findley, Ohio (0-2). Scheduled to be a four-round welterweight fight, Meza earned a first-round stoppage at 2:58.