Shittu's Commonwealth Boxing Loss Sparks AI Judge Debate
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- Dimeji Shittu lost to India's Ankush Panghal in the Commonwealth Games boxing final on Saturday, settling for silver after being docked a point in both the second and third rounds for dipping his head low.
- Ankush Panghal was awarded the second round by three of five judges and the third by four of five, meaning Shittu would have lost even without the two point deductions, despite winning the opening round on all five scorecards.
- Former champion Richie Woodhall told TNT Sports that 'the referee has cost Shittu the contest' and called the result 'shocking' and 'totally robbed.'
- Shittu declined to blame officials, telling BBC Sport: 'whatever the referee says goes… I can only blame myself. Those are the rules.'
- England's 2022 superheavyweight champion Delicious Orie backed AI judging, telling TNT Sports: 'If I knew there was a specific set of scoring then yeah, bring AI.'
- World Boxing, under president and former unified world champion Gennadiy Golovkin, is investigating AI implementation after the technology was used behind the scenes in the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk bout in 2024.
Why it matters: Shittu lost a medal he appeared to have earned, and World Boxing — which governs amateur boxing at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games — is now actively weighing AI-assisted judging after this incident. If adopted, objective scoring would directly affect every amateur boxer who has lost on a controversial decision; traditionalists who value human subjectivity remain the primary barrier to implementation.
