World Boxing looks at Artificial Intelligence to review bouts, fix scoring system

Be it the previous organisation International Boxing Association (IBA) or the current body, scoring remains a grey area for boxing. This is believed to be one of the key issues to be resolved for World Boxing to get the IOC’s full recognition.

Jadumani Singh from India wins against Nurzat Ongarov from Kazakhstan at the World Boxing Cup Final in Greater Noida. (Image used for representative purpose)

World Boxing is ‘evaluating’ the possibility of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for reviewing bouts, the organisation’s outgoing president Boris van der Vorst claimed.

The World Boxing chief acknowledged that tackling the challenges posed by the sport’s controversial scoring system will be one of the main ‘pain points’ for the nascent organisation that will be conducting the sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“The main challenge is that the hand of the best boxer is raised at the end of every bout. The integrity of the competition remains the main challenge for a sport that has a jury involved in it,” Van der Vorst told the reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing World Boxing Cup Finals.

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Speaking about the use of AI, he added: “We are exploring modern technology like AI to review the bouts so that we can restore the trust of the fans and boxers into the system. It’s a work in progress right now and what I can say is that we are evaluating it at the moment.”

Be it the previous organisation International Boxing Association (IBA) or the current body, scoring remains a grey area for boxing. This is believed to be one of the key issues to be resolved for World Boxing to get the International Olympic Committee’s full recognition.

World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst in India. (PHOTO BFI)

Ranking points

To further level the playing field, the World Boxing recently introduced a ranking system to ensure the best boxers meet deep into a major competition, rather than early rounds.

“The idea behind having the ranking points is to have boxers seeded and ranked ahead of big tournaments, so that we don’t have the two strongest boxers fighting in the very first round,” Van der Vorst said.

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Indian stalwart Nikhat Zareen faced the brunt of not having seedings at the Olympics as she was unseeded despite two World titles to her name and faced the eventual gold medallist, Wu Yu of China in the second round at the Paris Olympics.

Under the current ranking system introduced by World Boxing, all the performances of the boxers across the tournaments in a season will be used to rank them and it will decide their seedings.

When asked if ranking points will be used for qualification, Van der Vorst said, “First of all, the qualification process for the LA Olympics is not finalized as of now. We want to evaluate what process fits the best and decide next year. As of now, we want to stick to a combination of continental and world qualifiers.”

India can be next powerhouse

Van der Vorst, who has been visiting India frequently in the last years, thinks that the country has all the ingredients to emerge as the next superpower in world boxing. “Whenever I travel in India, I see kids in the boxing gym and they have only the aspiration of representing India at the Olympics,” he said.

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He added: “India has a great women’s team and it is visible in their performance at the World Championships in Liverpool. However, I also believe that India has immense talent in the men’s category but all they need to do is show up at the big events.”

Formerly an administrator with the banned IBA, Boris van der Vorst emerged in the center of efforts of keeping the sport in the Olympics programme. He will be ending his tenure as World Boxing is set to welcome a new president later this month.