Yes, it looked fake to me. Left hook partially blocked, right hand flush but not concussive or conclusive. And the ref waves it off with no count. Suspicious indeed.
Making it a more of a sure bet that Kov would get knocked out implies having him agree to take a monster punch to get KTFO... or if ur state of fanboy meltdown isn't that severe, you're more rationally thinking if he did happen to get knocked down/not defending himself well the ref would "follow the script" and not give him a chance to recuperate/wave it off too soon. I agree he should have been given a chance to at least stand up, but he looked completely out and it likely wouldn't have made a difference. Your concern is understandable (since this **** shouldn't be happening in the sport) but given the KO was genuine this betting angle you're throwing on it is moot.
Why don't you think he would agree to take a punch for money? He's taken hundreds of them. I'd agree to be knocked out for a million dollars. Who wouldn't?
You would have to be blind to not see that Kovalev wasn't putting any power into his punches. As a consequence his punches were slow as molasses. Contrast this with any of his previous fights.It's reasonable to surmise that he wasn't trying to inflict damage on his opponent for the first time in his career.
It's unnecessary. They could have wrote a TKO barrage on the ropes into the script. KO is overkill. Sadistic even. It didn't appear that Kov was intent on taking any punches, he was covering up pretty well when Canelo landed a big one around his guard. Kovalev was also concussed in his previous fight. There's only so much punishment someone is willing to take, especially in light of recent deaths. These guys know the risks, but that's under the condition they do their best to avoid getting hit.
Being in hospital I only had the RBR on here to go off and I could tell something was off from those who were commenting on the fight.Touching gloves every round,Canelos inactivity and Kovalev seemingly coasting along by his half hearted jabs?by round eight I even said it feels like it’s following a script. This wasn’t Tyson v Holmes and you could argue that Amir Khan gave Canelo a tougher fight. Canelo v Golovkin fight saw Canelo really emotional afterwards but his reaction last night did not look right at all. Imo they just keep shooting themselves in the foot with secret weight clauses as it only adds fuel to the fire for those wondering why Kovalev looked so weak compared to 90 days ago.
It was primarily his jab that he wasn't putting as much power into the majority of time. I watched some of the Yarde fight to compare the effort used, he was stepping/lunging into his jab in that fight. Maybe the game plan against Canelo was to use the jab as a range finder? There were instances where he put more effort into power punches off the jab. Mostly the right hook. I think the no.1 reason for the lower effort is because Kovalev has rarely fought an opponent who uses a turtle shell defence. I fully understand lessening the effort of punches when you're throwing bunches of them against someone overusing a high shell guard at the expense of work rate. You poke and prod to entice them out of their shell instead of going for broke and tiring yourself out. I noticed Kovalev's attack became more forceful when Canelo dropped his guard. But overall, there weren't many openings to capitalize on. Still, he won most of the rounds. Plus, maybe Canelo's insane speed often made Kovalev's look much slower by comparison? And maybe that same speed of counter attack made him unusually hesitant to throw? If it's a fix I could understand telling Kov to hold back, don't **** Canelo up, with the potential of Kovalev himself getting KO'd being something more likely to happen by way of him holding back, rather than the idea some people are suggesting that he was waiting for the big one to land or faking it. The judge fix would have been in the cards in any case.
No it was not a fixed fight. Kovalev was tired, and in his case his stamina seems closely related to his capacity to absorb punches to the head. When he is tired maybe his heart is not pumping enough blood to his brain. I am just giving my most simplistic thought here. But I have read some mentioning that Kovalev likes alcohol - which would also help explain his problem outside the ring. I don't know if it is true. This is not a good substance for the brain. You can read on a google search : "... a few drinks can nullify your hard work by erasing the effects of your workouts, reducing your endurance, and compromising your mental fortitude".
He was most certainly not throwing qith conviction. I don't think it was a dive but Kovalev was happy to play ball and not do too much to hurt or stop Canelo which was his only realistic chance of victory. Even with McGirt he doesn't limit himself that much. There was plenty wrong with his performance. He was always going to outbox Canelo but he allowed him to stay in the fight by not punishing him.