Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury settle chaotic judge row in most bizarre way possible

Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury have settled a row over who will judge their rematch – with a coin toss.

Puerto Rico’s Gerardo Martinez, Chicago’s Patrick Morley and Miami’s Fernando Barbosa were originally set to score the historic clash with Robert Ramirez Jr, also of Puerto Rico, picked as the referee.

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However, Barbosa was taken ill at late notice and did not fly to Riyadh.

As a result, both Steve Weisfeld of New Jersey and Panama’s Ignacio Robles flew to Saudi Arabia, with both camps split on who would take the vacant role.

Now, according to esteemed boxing journalist Keith Idec, Robles will score the fight after a coin toss early on Saturday morning.

It follows hours of deadlock between the two fighters and the local commission in Saudi Arabia.

When asked by a fan on social media if Usyk’s team got the judge they wanted, Idec responded: “Ultimately, yes, though they would have been OK with Weisfeld as well. They did prefer Robles, to answer your question.”

Explaining the situation on Friday, promoter Frank Warren had suggested a coin toss could settle the row.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “There are two standby judges, both of them are flying in and we have got to decide which one of them it is going to be.

“We want one of them, Usyk’s team want the other. So I have suggested we flip a coin.”

The three judges won’t be the only ones scoring Saturday’s action.

A fourth official, powered by artificial intelligence, will also submit a scorecard as part of an experiment that will not impact the result of the fight.

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Announcing the news earlier this week, Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh wrote on X: “For the first time ever, an AI-powered judge will monitor the fight.

“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.”

The idea was mostly welcomed by boxing fans, who have been subjected to several dodgy decisions over the years.

In Usyk and Fury’s first fight in May, the Ukrainian edged the contest via split decision with the tight scorecards reading 115-112 to Usyk, 114-113 to Fury, and 114-113 to Usyk.

A standing eight count in the ninth round from Usyk, which was marked down as a 10-8 round on all three judges’ scorecards, proved decisive.

Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury 2 predictions and betting tips

The three men scoring the fight that night were Spain’s Manuel Oliver Palomo, Canada’s Craig Metcalfe, and Wisconsin’s Mike Fitzgerald.

Metcalfe was the only judge to score the fight in Fury’s favour.

The Gypsy King has changed his approach for the rematch by piling on the bulk.

While dressed in heavy clothes, he weighed in at 281lbs on Friday – which is 19lbs heavier than the first fight.

He will boast a whopping 55lb advantage over Usyk – who tipped the scales at 226lbs.

Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury 2 predictions and betting tips

Boxing commentator John Rawling told talkSPORT: “It suggests that he’s going to go in there and try and work on Usyk close up and sap him with the fact that Usyk’s got to somehow keep that huge mass away.

“And I think early stages, Fury’s going to try and really put it on Usyk and sap his stamina and try and get an early advantage and maybe an even an early stoppage.

“What happened last time, if you remember the first fight… Fury did really well through rounds four, five and six.

“But from there on, Usyk started to gain control. He’s the supreme strategic strategist. He makes changes to his style when he needs to.”

talkSPORT will bring you live commentary of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday, December 21 with our coverage kicking off from 7.30pm