WBC Ukraine President: "US Judges Hardly Know Usyk"

In an interview with vRINGe, the President of WBC Ukraine, Nikolay Kovalchuk, commented on WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman's proposal to increase the number of judges from 3 to 5-6 in the fight for the absolute heavyweight championship (over 90.7 kg) between WBC champion Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) and the holder of the WBO, WBA, IBO, and IBF titles Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs), to minimize the risk of a possible mistake.

"If there are British judges at the fight, even on a subconscious level, they will be inclined to favor their fighter. US judges hardly know Usyk, as he has only fought twice in America. But they know Fury very well. And Fury is super popular there. He fully hyped up during his fight with Wilder. The audience there knows and loves him. This fight should have a maximally diverse representation of judges. It's important."

"It's no secret that the fight looks different from ringside than on television. Wouldn't it then be better for judges to assess the fight in the same way as viewers do?"

"That's a valid point. I would probably add another judge — a fourth one — who judges based on the television broadcast. Maybe even two judges who would judge by the broadcast. That would be an objective approach. But the ringside view is also very much needed. How to explain this... The fight looks different from every angle. The impressions are different. The same goes for judging by the broadcast. Probably, there should be a judge who judges by exactly the same TV broadcast that fans watch. That would probably be fair. And, by the way, it's a great idea. I haven't heard of it before."

The fight for the absolute heavyweight championship between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will take place on May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This fight will determine the first absolute division champion since 1999.