Fernando Barbosa, one of the agreed upon judges for this weekend’s much-anticipated heavyweight rematch, has fallen ill and needs replacing. The problem? Both camps want separate replacements to take his place and two US-based judges have flown to Riyadh as they seek every possible advantage…
Impasse reached as two replacement judges fly to Saudi
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – After Thursday’s press conference ended with remarkable scenes, an 11-minute agonisingly arduous faceoff between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury before Saturday night’s rematch, there was another twist in the tale.
Miami’s Fernando Barbosa was one of the three judges agreed upon for this unified world heavyweight showdown, before withdrawing through illness midweek and needing to be replaced.
BoxingScene reported New Jersey’s Steve Weisfield would likely step in, having travelled to Riyadh overnight and representing a familiar face to both.
Having judged bouts for over 30 years, this would mark his 2,875th per BoxRec and three of those have involved this weekend’s main event participants.He had Fury ahead during both the second and third Deontay Wilder encounters, while scoring Usyk a 116-112 winner against Anthony Joshua during their first meeting in 2021.
Involved in multiple high-profile bouts over the last three months alone, including Canelo Alvarez’s unanimous decision win over Edgar Berlanga on Mexican Independence Day weekend and Gilberto Ramirez’s cruiserweight unification victory against Chris Billam-Smith on Saudi shores last month.
Yet an hour later on Friday, Sky Sports revealed the respective fighter teams remained split on which replacement judge should be chosen as Panama’s Ignacio Robles also flew in as an additional option.
Robles has been judging fights for nearly 30 years too, but far less frequently (743 bouts) and at a considerably lower level for longer – predominantly in Central American countries.
He and Weisfield scored Dmitry Bivol’s shutout win over Lyndon Arthur together in Riyadh last December, though besides Naoya Inoue’s dominant victory over Paul Butler, not much at the world championship level stands out from his resume.
Usyk and Fury’s camps were said to want opposing judges, undoubtedly wary of any underhand tactics by the other party to gain any favourable advantage.
BoxingScene reported midweek that Barbosa works for Fury’s US promoter Top Rank, so while he won’t be ringside this weekend, the Ukrainian’s team wanted to ensure no more potential surprises would come at the eleventh hour.
The rematch will be officiated by Puerto Rico’s Roberto Ramirez Jr, who notably was heavily criticised for his lack of assertiveness at times as the referee during Katie Taylor’s undisputed world light-welterweight rematch win against Chantelle Cameron last November. The two other judges are Ramirez’s compatriot Gerardo Martinez and Chicago’s Pat Morley.
Usyk’s promoter Krassyuk questions WBC double standards
Elsewhere in Friday’s rules meeting, the other contentious points related to Fury’s full beard length, the shorts positioning and Usyk kissing a cross in the corner.
Fury will not be obligated to shave it off, while his team sought clarity that any punches landed below the navel would be deemed low blows regardless of where the fighter’s shorts and protective cup are positioned.
Confusion caused chaos in Wroclaw last August when Daniel Dubois’ fifth-round body punch was considered a low blow, Usyk’s shorts were high but no prior clarification or detailed instructions about illegal punches prior by the ringside official in their dressing rooms meant controversy persisted long after their world title bout. The need for clarity features heavily this time around.
During Friday’s weigh-ins Alex Krassyuk, Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter, told BN: “Usyk doesn’t care [about the beard] but for us as his team, we do care because we all have to comply with the rules. We’ll sort it out with the commission, I can assume he will not shave it but something is missing, maybe they want to help Tyson somehow but it’s dangerous.”
He also likened Usyk not being allowed to kiss the Christian crucifix – a religious gesture of devotion – to the commission or Queensberry telling someone they couldn’t go for Friday prayer in Saudi, declaring it a “stupid request” and wasn’t definitive on the final decision despite prior reporting it would not be permitted.
What he was unequivocal about, was the double standards shown by one particular sanctioning body with its president Mauricio Sulaiman in full view this week.
“When co-ordinating the judges [to be accepted for fight night], we made it very clear that this is option one and option two. We’re not favouring a judge, we’re favouring… following the rules and our agreement. If the WBC does not follow its own rules, I will speak now to the president and see what their position is.”
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes provided all procured by me
Mo and Sports 