On May 18, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are scheduled to fight in order to unify all the belts from the different boxing councils. One of the most powerful organisms is the WBC, which is presided by Mauricio Sulaiman. According to him, there is a new rule change he has requested as an emergency measure that would change the rules of boxing in a fundamental manner. The idea is to change from three to six judges during the fight, which makes things increasingly more difficult for both fighters. A format this different could change the outcome of a fight in drastic fashion. This decision isbeing pushed by Sulaiman, who is also talking to presidents from the WBA, the IBF, and the WBO.
Why will the judge number change for Fury vs Usyk?
As a way to get better transparency, this decision from Mauricio Sulaiman has been made. In previous fights, there have already been moments in which the score cards from only three judges have been scrutinized. More recently, the fight between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou was highly scrutinized because most people thought the MMA star won that fight. In order to prevent something similar from happening, Sulaiman is making this immediate rule change request that he wants passed before Fury fights Usyk. Initially, their fight was scheduled for February but an eyebrow injury from Fury moved it to May 18.
WCB president Mauricio Sulaiman spoke to the folks at Boxing Scene to express his concerns. This is what he said: “What we saw last week in Saudi Arabia was another example of how fragile officiating worldwide continues to be. We saw one judge have it one way big and another judge having the other guy winning. Controversy like that in the Fury-Usyk fight will kill boxing. Fights, especially those at this highest level, deserve this and so I’m putting forward this proposal now to all sanctioning bodies, promoters and fighters. It has to be something we all agree on.”
He ultimately lost the fight via unanimous decision but there were clear signs of a promising future ahead.
A win over surging contender Martin Bakole a year later saw him sore up the heavyweight rankings before ‘The Bounty Hunter’ was matched against Alexander Povetkin on the Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz rematch undercard.
Many felt Hunter did enough to get his hand raised against the Russian, but the fight was declared a draw.
If Hunter had been given the nod in Saudi Arabia then very different opportunities would have lay ahead.
Instead, a couple of wins against domestic-level opposition followed before that fateful night against Forrest.
The dismal showing against ‘The Slugger’ saw Hunter’s stock fall significantly and the subsequent collapse of a eliminator bouts with Hughie Fury and Filip Hrgovic meant the American puncher was unable to rebound from the setback.
Now, he finds himself in boxing limbo.
“I was supposed to be fighting for Sky Sports but they couldn’t really get me a fight,” Hunter told talkSPORT.com.
“I’ve had the same problem my whole career, nobody really wants to fight me and it costs to get me a fight.
“That’s why a lot of people are saying that I’m high risk, low reward.
“But the reality of it is, I’m a higher risk than my reward period. You could still get a million dollars fighting me, but would you get another one after?
“So I think it is the risk and the way I fight, the type of style that I have. I’m kind of like an Usyk type of fighter.
