WBC president Maurico Sulaiman says the sport of boxing absolutely has to implement video technology such as video replays during bouts. Sulaiman, who spoke with Gambling.com, says he and his organisation will be “fighting very hard to have instant replays for Tyson Fury Vs. Oleksandr Usyk.”
Instant replays have been used by the WBC in bouts before, such as in the recent Fury-Francis Ngannou fight. Sulaiman brought up the fact that the cut Fury suffered in that fight came from a headbutt, with the referee that night unable to see how the cut happened, but with the video replay on-screen showing that the injury did indeed come from a butt, not from a punch.
Sulaiman says the use of technology such as instant replays will rid the sport of controversy, the kind that can “kill the sport.”
“We started instant replays 12 years ago. We have used it in Japan, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the United States and every other major territory,” Sulaiman said. “We have used it with the British Boxing Board of Control twice and in the last fight between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou where Fury was cut. The referee didn’t see the source of the cut and on the giant screening we saw it was a headbutt, so we instantly ruled it as a headbutt. We must have instant replays, especially in fights like this because the last thing you want is controversy that kills the sport. We will fight very hard to have instant replays for Fury Vs. Usyk and in all major fights moving forward. We have to use the technology that is available and make the best out of it.”
This is all well and good, but as some fans have pointed out, seeing an instant replay of a key event in a fight, even again and again, can still fail to prove without any debate exactly what happened. For example, people are still arguing over the ‘low blow/legal body shot’ incident in the Usyk-Daniel Dubois fight. Despite repeated viewings, fans seem to remain split on whether Dubois’ punch was low or was not low.
Still, instant replays can be helpful, as Suliaman points out. And in terms of the troubled Fury-Usyk fight, now set for May 18, it is possible the cut Fury suffered in sparring may reopen during the fight. With the aid of instant replay, we would be able to see how any cut, on either Fury or Usyk, was inflicted.
The use of such technology will cost money of course, but most people are in favour of it.