Experienced Steve Weisfeld set to replace ESPN’s Fernando Barbosa as judge for Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II
Dec 20, 2024 • 6:40 AM ET
New Jersey’s Steve Weisfeld looks likely to step in for Miami’s Fernando Barbosa as a judge for the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch, though that was yet to be confirmed before the end of Friday morning’s rule meeting in Saudi Arabia.
The vastly experienced Weisfeld, who travelled to Riyadh Thursday night, will be familiar to both parties. He had Fury ahead at the point of stopping Deontay Wilder in both their rematch and third encounter, and he scored Usyk a 116-112 victor over Anthony Joshua in their first encounter.
Barbosa withdrew due to illness. On Wednesday BoxingScene reported that Barbosa also works for Disney and ESPN, the broadcaster Fury’s US promoter Top Rank currently works alongside. It is understood that Weisfeld was one of two choices to replace him.
The rematch of the world heavyweight title fight won by Usyk via split decision in May will be refereed by Puerto Rico’s Roberto Ramirez Jnr. The other judges are Ramirez’s countryman Gerardo Martinez and Chicago’s Pat Morley.
Matt Christie, a lifelong fight fan, has worked in boxing for more than 20 years. He left Boxing News in 2024 after 14 years, nine of which were spent as editor-in-chief. Before that, he was the producer of weekly boxing show “KOTV.” Now the co-host of “The Opening Bell” podcast and regularly used in the UK as a pundit, Matt was named as the Specialist Correspondent of the Year at the prestigious Sports Journalism Awards in 2021, which was the seventh SJA Award he accepted during his stint in the hot seat at Boxing News. The following year, he was inducted into the British Boxing Hall of Fame. He is a member of the BWAA and has been honored several times in their annual writing awards.
