Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight hit by last-minute change amid illness

Tyson Fury's rematch with Oleksandr Usyk has seen an eleventh-hour shake-up in the judging panel. One of the original judges confirmed for the bout, Fernando Barbosa from Miami, is ill and unable to make the trip to Riyadh for Saturday night.

Both camps are in disagreement over which of the two potential replacement options - Steve Weisfeld (New Jersey) and Ignacio Robles (Panama) - should step in. Fury's promoter Frank Warren has suggested that it could come down to a coin toss.

Scoring alongside whoever is ultimately chosen are the American Patrick Morley and Gerardo Martinez of Puerto Rico, while Roberto Ramirez - also of Puerto Rico - will serve as the referee. In the duo's first meeting last May, Usyk took the win with judges Mike Fitzgerald and Manuel Oliver Palomo scoring in his favour, 114-113 and 115-112 respectively, whereas Craig Metcalfe scored 114-113 for Fury.

The revision follows a revelation from Saudi boxing authority Turki Alalshikh that a fourth official, powered by AI technology, will score the fight, aiming for an impartial and error-less judgment. This innovative move was shared by Alalshikh on social media, stating that it's a trial run that won't affect the official outcome.

If the battle continues for all 12 rounds, the ringside judges' scores will still determine the final result. "For the first time ever, an AI-powered judge will monitor the fight," announced Alalshikh.

"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."

Tyson Fury, despite a setback in his initial bout with Oleksandr Usyk last May, which saw the Ukrainian dominate from the ninth round, remains undeterred. Although he was not the preferred fighter on two of the judges' scorecards, with only one judge in his corner, Fury is confident as he approaches the rematch where three world titles are up for grabs.

He believes there's no need for a major overhaul in his approach, stating: "I'm just going to use my boxing, like I did last time. I'm not going to do anything drastic, like a total change of gameplan because it's not needed.

"Why would I change something when I had control of the fight for maybe 80 per cent of it? I'm landing on him at will, head and body, lead right uppercuts, left hooks, right hooks to the body. Doubles at times.

"I don't feel I need to change anything. I don't think Usyk will change either because his key to victory has to be coming forward. He ain't going to outbox me on the back foot. It's not possible. So he has to come forward and make a fight of it."