The last-minute judging change for Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury’s rematch has caused a stir in both camps.

Puerto Rico’s Gerardo Martinez, Chicago’s Patrick Morley and Miami’s Fernando Barbosa were originally set to score the historic clash with Robert Ramirez Jr, also of Puerto Rico, picked as the referee.

Fury and Usyk will square off for a second time on Saturday nightCredit: GETTY

But according to esteemed boxing journalist, Keith Idec, Barbosa was taken ill and didn’t fly to Riyadh.

As a result, Steve Weisfeld of New Jersey was slated to have stepped in on short notice to replace him at ringside.

However, another unnamed judge is also flying over to Saudi Arabia to take the vacant role.

Both sides are locked into a dispute over the replacement official, with Fury and Usyk’s teams favouring different judges, while Fury’s promoter Frank Warren has suggested flipping a coin to settle the issue.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “There are two standby judges, both of them are flying in and we have got to decide which one of them it is going to be.

“We want one of them, Usyk’s team want the other. So I have suggested we flip a coin.”

Weisfeld, a veteran of over 2000 fights, has judged both men before.

He submitted a 116-112 scorecard in Usyk’s favour for his shutout display against Anthony Joshua in their inaugural encounter back in September 2021.

Meanwhile, his services weren’t required when he judged Fury and Deontay Wilder’s second and third fights in 2020 and 2021, although he had Fury ahead at the time of both stoppages.

Weisfield has largely avoided controversy during his lengthy career, which stretches all the way back to 1991.

Last time, Usyk won the bout via split decision with two out of three judges scoring the fight in his favourCredit: AFP

However, the three judges – which may include himself if he gets the eventual nod – won’t be the only ones scoring Saturday’s action.

A fourth official, powered by artificial intelligence, will also submit a scorecard as part of an experiment that will not impact the result of the fight.

Announcing the news earlier this week, Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh wrote on X: “For the first time ever, an AI-powered judge will monitor the fight.

“Free from bias and human error brought to you by The Ring.

“This groundbreaking experiment, which won’t impact the official results, debuts during the biggest fight of the century, #Usyk2Fury, on December 21.”

The idea was mostly welcomed by boxing fans, who have been subjected to several dodgy decisions over the years.

In Usyk and Fury’s first fight in May, the Ukrainian edged the contest via split decision with the tight scorecards reading 115-112 to Usyk, 114-113 to Fury, and 114-113 to Usyk.

A standing eight count in the ninth round from Usyk, which was marked down as a 10-8 round on all three judges’ scorecards, proved decisive.

The three men scoring the fight that night were Spain’s Manuel Oliver Palomo, Canada’s Craig Metcalfe, and Wisconsin’s Mike Fitzgerald.

Metcalfe was the only judge to score the fight in Fury’s favour.