"Five or six": WBC makes revolutionary proposal for Usyk-Fury fight

Mauricio Sulaiman, President of the World Boxing Council (WBC), has called for an increase in the number of judges at the fight for the title of absolute world heavyweight champion between Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) and Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs). According to the official, this will significantly reduce the possibility of errors in the work of the referees who count the points.

Sulaiman said this in an interview with Sky Sports. The functionary suggested that five or six people should be judged at the May 18 match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He added that boxing has a very negative attitude towards various innovations, but his idea makes sense.

"This is my recommendation. Let's see. Boxing is a sport in which it is very difficult to achieve change. We are traditionalists, we don't want changes. I will continue to make this proposal. Some people like the idea, some of the people involved in the decision-making process. We will see. We proposed to use five judges or six judges. The more judges are involved in the scoring, the less likely it is that a wrong decision will be made," Sulaiman said.

Earlier, he came up with the idea of using video replays during the fight between the Ukrainian and the British. Initially, the fight between Oleksandr and Tyson was scheduled for February 17, but the Gypsy King was cut during sparring two weeks before the show. The Manchester native apologized for his injury, and a video of the incident was posted online.

The Briton also made a statement about the end of his career. At the same time, he named the main reasons why Fury would not be able to refuse to enter the ring against the Ukrainian again.

When asked about the fake nature of the injury, Usyk criticized the Gypsy King. In addition, fans reacted angrily to the situation. Usyk's trainer Sergey Lapin named a boxer who would replace Tyson in case of his absence from the ring.

The incident was also commented on by Croatian boxer Agron Smakic (20-2, 18 KOs), who dealt Fury the ill-fated blow. But ex-champion Carl Froch called the British fighter's injury suspicious.

Bookmakers reacted unexpectedly to the postponement of the Usyk-Fury fight, changing one of the quotes on its outcome. Two conditions were also revealed that the Ukrainian demanded to fulfill when he agreed to postpone his return to the ring on February 17. In addition, the media announced Tyson and Oleksandr's fees for the show.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, promoter Oleksandr Krasiuk shared Oleksandr Usyk's plans after he fights Tyson Fury. In addition, it became known when the Briton will return to training.

Also, one of those wishing to replace Tyson in the fight has been determined. In turn, former welterweight world champion Steve Cunningham gave an unexpected reason why Usyk will beat Fury.

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