I can see just about anything happening in this fight. Either could gas, either might win by KO and with the height difference +natural weight difference it could even be like Hearns vs Duran in there.
every betting company got Canelo as favorite, i would bet on Kovalev, but i am not a gambler. Also interesting to compare predictions from esb and betting sites. Cant wait for this fight!
I registered on a betting site, went $300 on Kovalev 4-1 and decided to play the bonus on the draw. I rarely bet, pay or watch today's boxing so I consider it is disposable fund for a great fight that happen just once every 5 years. Let's just hope that there will be no controversy. If Canelo wins, and I doubt it, at least I hope it's gonna be a clear decision. I would not care about a controversial draw, of course...
If Canelo wins decisively, it's a huge deal. Monumental. If Kovalev wins decisively, it's not nearly so though also a big deal for stopping the biggest P4P machine of the last 5 years so it will be his biggest career win by a country mile (is that a bad indication of the LHW division the past 7-ish years?). If it's close or controversial, win to Canelo. Kovalev better win ON PAPER. There is no reason to pick against Kovalev in that regard. Huge favorite, if you knew your boxing and simply looked on-paper statistics without any video knowledge. But we do have video knowledge. Canelo proves doubters wrong over and over. He IS HISTORIC in my view. Even so, I have to have faith to be picking him (which I am).
Hand speed, jab, distance... Kovalev is far from a brute after all. Maybe I claimed him such back when he arrived against Campillo. But it has been proven otherwise. I don't know how people can see "weight classes exist for a reason" and not appreciate the seemingly ridiculous aspect of this fight. Canelo has the physical dimensions all around of an ideal junior middleweight, period. Kovalev was a P4P dude for years and the best LHW of the past decade. I don't know. Though picking Canelo because he's all-time, I can't help but emphasize on this forum over and over that Kovalev SHOULD be the favorite.
Sounds like you'll be the first to give Canelo insane props if he pulls off a W. Or even fights him close in defeat. I look forward to it.
No, actually LHW was and is one of the best divisions, even after Ward retired its still very strong. Its just Canelo kinda cleared MW, with controversy like he always does, but still and SMW is a joke, so he had to move up or fight GGG. I dunno why he didnt want third fight with GGG, he looked actually weak in his last fight and for the first time we witnessed GGG getting seriously hurt. I still consider Kovalev being a much bigger threat to Canelo than GGG.
I have thought about this a lot. I don’t buy the narrative some push, about Kovalev having lost his hunger and being happy to lose and get a mega payday. I think it will be quite the contrary, with Kovalev being hungrier than ever. This is his first mega fight. The Ward fights and his destruction of Hopkins were big fights, but never turned enough heads to be mega. You need the casuals for that, and this fight will bring it. Canelo-Kovalev will do over a million ppv buys, this is Sergeys chance to show his level in front of the the whole boxing World. He will be thinking “FINALLY! This is MY chance!” Expect Kovalev to be cool, fit and ruthless when needed. Keeping Canelo at distance with his elite jab, not giving Canelo a chance to make it a rough “up-close-and-personal” kind of fight. And when Canelo is getting tired in the second half of the fight, then Kovalev will shift gears and turn up the heat. Sergey Kovalev by stoppage mid to late rounds.
