Yardes a scrub.. Kovalev got battered by Eleider Alvarez & then almost KOd by Yarde. He clearly wasn't the fighter he was circa 2016/17 .. despite the tepid performance in the Alvarez rematch. Let alone the rehydration quick turnaround thing with Canelo.
No rank at all, unless you are creating a ranking of disgraceful bouts. The guy had just gone through a grueling match with Yarde only 5 weeks or less from the match. He was already damaged goods based on a well known alcoholic lifestyle.
So rehydration clauses are bull? I guess thats why fighters demand them. Not only did Kovalev only have a 9 week camp it was only 9 weeks after a gruelling war with Yarde where he was almost stopped. That right there is insane, and completely ridiculous especially for a 36 year old. In the ring he looked old and frail and fought with zero authority, mainly just pumping a weak jab all night. This win was no better than the Mosley win.
I don't see it anywhere close like you do and couldn't care less what you think. The first Alvarez bout basically finished Kovalev regardless of what happened afterwards. Just watch the Alvarez rematch closely. Everytime Alvarez landed cleanly it rocked Kovalev to his core. He won only by sticking to McGirts game plan of smart boxing keeping Alvarez at arms length. He got past an unseasoned Yard by the skin of his teeth. When the Kovalev fight looked like it wasn't going to happen Bivol offered to step in against Canelo at 168 or 175. Crickets from Canelo. Beterbiev wasn't mentioned. Canelo wanted another belt and he saw what many of us saw that Kovalev couldn't take a solid shot without losing his legs. Couldn't care less how you see it.....just dumb
Kovalev was so good that even in that condition he was easily outboxing Canelo until he 'had nothing left' as he said and then fell down like a sack of potatoes after two clean punches. For people wondering whether he was fit or not, never in his career had he gone down like that and been finished so easily at 175. Even the Alvarez finish wasn't that drastic. Yarde hit him with a ton of shots and couldn't finish him. His punch resistance was gone in that Canelo fight from the short turn around and diminished further by the drain and Canelo's PEDs. People claiming he could take Yarde's shots therefore it proved Canelo was great clearly cannot think. It was that Yarde fight that compromised him for Canelo. As for Mcgirt, another hype trainer who ruined Kovalev like Hill ruined Fury. Weirdly they both did the same thing, take the strengths away from the fighter and made them vulnerable in consequence. Mcgirt didn't help Kov against Yarde and Canelo, he stopped him landing bomb RH's and taking these opponents out like he used to do, at least backing them off and forced him to box for 12 rounds without the condition to do so and allowing the opponents ample chance to land their big shots since Kov's offence was always part of his protection. He turned Kov into a jabbing point fighter, it's completely insane.
You don't think he turned him into a jabbing point fighter for the simple reason he didn't want Kovalev to engage because he saw what many of us saw that Kovalev couldn't take a solid shot anymore without his legs going stiff on him?
It's amusing hearing people claim that Kovalev was shot while also complaining that it had only been a few months since he knocked out Yarde. It was probably the best year of Kovalev's career in terms of scalps before he got Canelo'd.
What is all this crap about a 6 week camp not being enough? He came into that camp in good shape. You don't need months off after a fight if you weren't concussed, didn't break or tear anything, and didn't get a severe cut. People love to whine about how fighters don't take enough fights and then whine when their guy does keep a busy schedule but gets knocked cold. I call these people spineless.
I think Kovalev's problem was more on mentally side. After the Ward 1 fight, i think he lost all motivations and only fights for money at this point of his career. His performances with Ward 2 - onward didn't exactly look like the same Kovalev i knew. He was there cruising and not trying anymore.
Its not just about the training camp its the gap between fights which was only 9 weeks, and it was a very tough fight where he was almost knocked out and he was 36. That is a huge handicap no matter how hard you try to spin it to defend Canelo.