The long-awaited fight is approaching.
A dispute arose between the teams of WBA, WBO, WBC and IBO heavyweight title holder Oleksandr Usyk and former champion Tyson Fury on the eve of the rematch.
According to Sky Sports, it was caused by the fact that one of the judges – American Fernando Barbosa, who was supposed to work the fight, fell ill.
Steve Weisfeld and Ignacio Robles will fly to Riyadh to replace him. Usyk and Fury's teams are divided on which of them should judge the fight.
The British boxer's promoter Frank Warren suggested that the matter be settled by a coin toss.
“One of the three judges is ill. There are two reserve judges, both of whom are flying in, and we have to decide which one will be there. We want one of them, and the other camp wants the other, so I suggested that we toss a coin.
It will be settled. We use common sense, in fact both camps are very, very professional and know what they have to do,” Warren said.
It was previously reported thatartificial intelligence will judge the Usyk-Fury rematch. However, this will be just an innovative experiment that will not affect the official results of the fight.
The Usyk-Fury rematch will take place on December 21 in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). All titles held by the Ukrainian boxer will be at stake.
A text online broadcast of the Usyk-Fury rematch is available on our website.
Unlike the first fight, this time the title of absolute world champion will not be at stake, since Alexander had previously renounced the IBF title. Now it is owned by Briton Daniel Dubois, who has already managed to defend it by knocking out his compatriot Anthony Joshua.
Recall that on the night of May 19, 2024, Usyk defeated Fury by split decision in a fight for the title of absolute world heavyweight champion. At the end of the ninth round, Alexander knocked his opponent down.
Thus, Alexander defended the WBO, WBA, IBO and IBF belts, and also took the WBC title from the “Gypsy King”. Usyk became the first absolute world champion in the heavyweight division in the 21st century.
Before that, the last “absolute” heavyweight champion was Lennox Lewis, who won this status in 1999, when he defeated Evander Holyfield. At that time, the WBA, WBC and IBF titles were at stake. The WBO belt was recognized as equal in 2007, so Usyk became the first “absolute” heavyweight champion in history with four main titles.
