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Amazon’s Alexa brushes up on boxing ahead of Anthony Joshua fight

‘Alexa, when is the Anthony Joshua fight?’
‘Alexa, when is the Anthony Joshua fight?’ ‘Alexa, when is the Anthony Joshua fight?’

Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, has been brushing up on boxing knowledge ahead of Anthony Joshua’s world heavyweight title fight with Joseph Parker in Cardiff on Saturday.

The artificial intelligence-powered helper that resides in Amazon’s Echo smart speakers has been fed all the key info on the fight, with the aim of turning any casual boxing follower into a full-time AJ fanatic.

Following on the heels of a similar move ahead of the Winter Olympics in South Korea earlier this year, Alexa has been loaded with all the key information on the fight and Joshua, meaning users can now ask when the fight is, what Joshua’s record is and how many titles he currently holds.

(David Parry/PA)
(David Parry/PA) (David Parry/PA)

Amazon also said Alexa’s newfound boxing knowledge goes beyond just this weekend’s title fight, with users now also able to ask questions such as: “Alexa, how many knockouts does Muhammad Ali have?”

The tool will also extend to once the fight’s over, with those unable to catch the fight on the night able to ask Alexa for the result in the aftermath.

Amazon has been aggressively expanding Alexa’s abilities in recent months, having also introduced voice calling and messaging capabilities to Amazon Fire, Android and iOS tablets as well as adding music streaming service Deezer to its list of supported products.