Fury vs Usyk 2 LIVE: Latest news and updates from open workouts in title fight build-up

The heavyweight rematch between Fury and Usyk this weekend will feature scoring from a fourth ‘judge’ powered by artificial intelligence.

Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, announced the implementation of the AI judge in a post on X, adding that it is an “experiment” which “won’t impact the official results”.

“For the first time ever, an AI-powered judge will monitor the fight”, said the post. “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.”

The announcement is sure to split opinion in a sport that has long been affected by controversial judges’ decisions, with some fans on social media welcoming the decision.

More here:

There were signs in the first fight that the end is not far away for either of the two men.

Fury is now 36, has fought 36 times and has been a professional boxer for 17 years. He has also had bad years, days when he looked at death, hid in the darkest of places and gained 10 stone in flab.

Usyk is 37 and has never had an easy fight since turning professional in 2013; he has been matched hard from the start and in 22 fights he has managed to become the undisputed champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight.

In private, they talk of exhaustion and bodies that are simply getting closer to shutting down. At the end of the first fight, they were both near collapse.

Steve Bunce on the role of age in Usyk vs Fury 2:

Final predictions for now.

World champion Lauren Price picked Usyk to do the double over Fury. “Fury obviously is massive and a great champion,” she said, “but I can’t go against Usyk. He’s phenomenal – his ring IQ, everything really... Usyk by decision.”

Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn – who watched “AJ” lose to Usyk twice – said: “I have no idea how to beat [Usyk], but Tyson Fury is a very smart fighter. He has smart people in the corner, but also from an IQ [perspective] in boxing, he’s right up there. Unfortunately, so is Oleksandr Usyk.

“So my money, especially when he’s won the first fight, will always be on Oleksandr Usyk. [But] my heart wants to see Tyson Fury win – not just because he’s British, but because I want to set up the AJ fight. I’d love to see him do it, but I do see him as the underdog in this fight.”

Further predictions...

Back in the heavyweight division, Fabio Wardley and Agit Kabayel differed in their opinions.

Wardley, the reigning British champion, said: “A lot of people I’ve spoken to within the industry are edging towards Usyk. [Those predictions are] more so mentality-based. I [also] think he’s more focused on the task at hand, focused on the job, and is dedicated.”

Kabayel countered: “Fury’s mentality is better [than last time], he’s focused, he will win the fight. He has long arms, he is tall, and he is intelligent – he has everything. He works with the brain. This fight’s very close. He is really good at boxing, Oleksandr Usyk, but in my heart, I think Fury wins the fight on points. I hate predictions, but I will say this.”

Amir Khan similarly backed Fury to right his wrong from May, with the former world champion saying: “I just lean more towards Tyson in this fight. As we get closer to the fight, I feel like Tyson might be a little too thin. We know Fury can fight on his back foot, but we just don’t know what to expect [...] Let’s see, I’m gonna stick with Fury to win the fight, but there could be a few scares.”

More predictions!

Ex-world champion Joe Cordina, who fought on the undercard of Fury-Usyk 1 like Opetaia, predicted: “Fury, [rounds eight to 12], stoppage. He’ll struggle with the footwork of Usyk for the first half, and then he’ll just think: ‘I’ve got to get on it now.’ And the weight, the size will all come into play.”

Another former world champion, Carl Frampton, echoed that sentiment. He said: “I fancy Fury. My mind hasn’t really swayed from start to finish, which is strange in a fight of this magnitude; I’ve been saying Fury from the start. I think Fury is in the zone now, he’s serious, he’s ready to fight. Both guys seem to be very, very confident. Both, I think, know it’s going to be a difficult fight.”

As Saturday’s Saudi showdown edges nearer and predictions are made, opinions are split in the boxing world.

Cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, a former sparring partner of Fury, has faith in the Briton. “I feel like, in this fight, we’re going to see a version of Fury that we haven’t seen for a long time: a hungry Fury, [who knows he] can be beaten if he doesn’t perform well,” said the Australian.

“So, I feel like he’s going to be preparing the best he’s prepared in a long time, to win this fight. He knew his boxing IQ was better than a lot of those fighters that he’s been fighting; he relied on that. This one, he can’t rely on that natural ability. He needs to put in the hard work as well, and I feel like we’re going to see that.”

Meanwhile, Derek Chisora – a former opponent of Fury and Usyk – is picking the Ukrainian to triumph again. Chisora, who lost to Fury thrice and Usyk once, said: “[Usyk] is still the same, bro. It’s gonna be a good fight, we’re gonna see a little bit of difference, but you have to understand: Tyson will come a little bit different, but Usyk will come a little bit different [as well]. But as the scales hit right now, my money’s still edging on Usyk.”

Reports suggested that the overall purse for the first fight was around $150m (£116m), with Fury taking roughly 70 per cent of that.

For the rematch, the purse is reported to be closer to $191m (£150m), and while the split has not been disclosed, Usyk should earn a greater percentage than he did in May – as the A-side this time around.

Subject to late changes; ‘C’ denotes champion

Oleksandr Usyk (C) vs Tyson Fury 2 (WBC, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles)

Serhii Bohachuk vs Ishmael Davis (super-welterweight)

Moses Itauma vs Demsey McKean (heavyweight)

Johnny Fisher vs Dave Allen (heavyweight)

Isaac Lowe vs Lee McGregor (featherweight)

Rhys Edwards vs Peter McGrail (super-bantamweight)

Daniel Lapin vs Dylan Colin (light-heavyweight)

Andrii Novytskyi vs Edgar Ramirez (heavyweight)

Mohammad Alakel vs Joshua Ocampo (super-featherweight)

As with recent Saudi-staged events, the fight will air live on DAZN pay-per-view, TNT Sports Box Office, and Sky Sports Box Office – priced at £24.99 on all three.

However, DAZN is the only one that doesn’t require viewers to have a subscription to access the PPV; and it is offering a free, seven-day, no-commitment trial if fans buy the event. Purchase the fight on DAZN here.

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Fury vs Usyk 2, over 12 rounds for the unified heavyweight titles, will take place on Saturday.

The rematch takes place at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The main event is scheduled to start at 10.25pm GMT (2.25pm PT / 4.25pm CT / 5.25pm ET), with ring walks starting around 10 minutes earlier.