I think it's pretty undeniable that Kovalev & Yildrim came specifically to lose. People seem to think Kovalev being a bit past it means he was unable to fully extend either of his arms from round 1 to the knockout. And that he, over 2 months, lost his ability to move in out and laterally, as well as mysteriously lose hesitation to any of Canelo's punches. The fact he showed all these attributes against essentially cruiserweights in Yarde (a significnatly bigger puncher than Canelo), Eleider and all opponents prior, is damning to put it lightly. You'd struggle to find Kovalev throwing one or two punches with intent in that fight. This was a guy with arguably the best jab in boxing even at his age and beautiful straight 1-2s and 2-1-2 shots. I'd say it goes as far his jab is better than Golovkin's, with extra support from that additional reach and height. Canelo ate a ridiculous amount of jabs from 36 yo Golovkin as well as countless jabs and straight lefts from Lara. It's absolutely ridiculous to think Kovalevs performance was result of a short camp. There were similar glaring signs in the Smith and Plant fight that they also coming specifically to lose. If we are going to pretend those fights are real, Bivol may seem one dimensional, but he is not and what he does works very well. This is not to mention he is a significantly better boxer than Plants failed Mayweather "style" who was up against Canelo on many fans scorecards according to some. This is a Bivol who, despite looking like a 168lber, dominated much bigger light heavies. That in itself is impressive, especially as his opponents actually come to win. Its not up for debate that Pascal and Joe Smith Jr hit much harder than Canelo. Youd be clutching at the straws otherwise - something they like to do given some fanboys think Canelo legitimately stands a chance against Usyk. Look what Bivol did to the bigger light heavies, he boxed them beautifully, not really dancing around against the ropes but just outside the centre of the ring and in and out of his opponents range. He wasn't scared to engage. He was clearly cautious to engage with their power, but he'd step out step back in and take risks time and time again despite attempts at big counters. I guarantee we will not see this from Bivol against Canelo. Then people will claim "but Canelo's ring IQ is so good", just regurgitating commentators, when in fact he hasn't really shown any ring IQ since getting 8-4d by Golovkin twice. Canelo has not looked impressive since those two fights. His last fights have him plodding into his opponents range while opponents patty cake, then all he does is swing looping punches. His ring IQ is really not that great. This fight would be to big a risk for Canelo to risk. The fix is in, imo.
What a weasel. Countless times you've told me to f off just for posting my opinion. Mods should be here for you. The truth hurts
Stop with the conspiracy nonsense. You always do this. Bivol is going to come to fight, you can guarantee it. Your delusion and irrational hate is clouding your judgment to the point that when Canelo became undisputed at 168, you started coping by dismissing them as "fixed fights" or other nonsense because of ONE strange fight against Kovalev. I mean really, how on earth were Saunders and Plant fights fixed. It makes no sense
Why did Kovalev from round 1 to round 11 pitty pat and not fully extend on any of his punches? Why did he show minimal hesitation to Canelo's punches yet show the opposite against bigger opponents? It's a conspiracy theory in the sense it's contrary to the official outcome, but if you watch the fight there are clear telltale signs. Corruption in boxing is rife, fixed fights are not out of the realm possibility. It ws literally run by the mafia, and Kinahan himself was involved with MTK. Boxing is clearly corrupt. One obvious fix fight for example - Scott vs Wilder.. Wilder literally did not land a punch on him
ONE strange fight and now all of Canelos fights are fixed lol. Perhaps Kovalev was shot maybe ? I mean he clearly hasn't been the same since the Ward bouts and amlost got brutally stopped by Yarde. Perhaps it was fixed, but that does not mean any other Canelo fights are. Stop disrespecting the sh*t out of Bivol man.
I never said the Saunders fight was fixed. I called out the Kovalev fight as fixed after that fight itself.. As did many others suspect it including boxers Austin Trout, Badou Jakc, and Chris Eubank. It's not irrational hate. It's irrational disbelief on your part. Boxing is a business dude, everyone knows that. All promoters specifically manufacture careers to minimise losses. For Canelo this goes as far as fixing fights
I’m going to have to rewatch the Canelo vs Kovalev fight. I don’t remember thinking it looked suspicious at the time (although I was surprised Canelo actually knocked him out) but I keep seeing people talk about the fight looking fixed. As far as I can remember, the knockout itself definitely appeared legit…it wasn’t like the Malik Scott vs Wilder knockout where it like Scott was barely touched. But it appears the claims here are that Kovalev was not punching with full force. I have noticed in prior Kovalev fights that a lot of his punches look almost effortless but still seem to generate a good amount of power.
It was more of the performance leading up to the knockout that was extremely suspect. You can let yourself get knocked out and the fight can still be a fix
So, Kovalev came to lose, by winning 7 rounds out of 10 off of Canelo with relative ease, and then voluntarily got brutally KTFO? If that were the case, why would Canelo willingly lose rounds and why the need for the KO? Couldn't he have just gone into cruise control the last two rounds and lost them convincingly? I mean, if it were a fix, there's far easier ways to go about it that doesn't involve risking your health and suffering a humiliating Kirkland/Khan like KO at the hands of a midget Light Middleweight. None of this makes sense. Oh... that right! Because it's bull****. He barely had a training camp, he didn't want to go all out and gas himself out, he also preferred to control the range and not over extend himself, and risk walking into a Canelo counter, so he played it safe and didn't get greedy, and he was still doing enough to win most of the rounds. But alas, he was robbed of a chance to say he got robbed, because exactly what they were hoping for happened, he did gas out, and got unfocused, had a defensive lapse and Canelo capitalized.
I was watching it with other people and drinking (so there were plenty of distractions), so I will go back and watch it more closely.
These are fair points - however, they do not at all exclude the fight from being a fix. Neither do they address what was seen in the fight as well as the overall context which I've addressed and will address again below. Yes, but this does not mean the fight cannot be fixed. I'd gladly let myself be knocked out by a guy two or three weight classes below me for a few hundred thousands. Do you think an alcoholic would not do the same for an easy few million? When he's at the end of his career and not likely to get a huge paycheck again? So not having a training camp means he was unable to fully extend and throw a jab or any punch with intent or snap from round 1? One or two months earlier he dominated what was essentially cruiser in Yarde with his jab alone where he took risks fully extending. Yes Yarde is limited but he is much bigger than Canelo (reach height size) , hits much harder, and is pretty sharp counterpuncher. Look at how Kovalev hesitates against Yardes punches and how dampened this response is against Canelo. Look at Kovalev extend on his punches, use in out lateral movement throughout the fight. He did not do this against Canelo the moment the bell sounded. Remember this was a Canelo moving up TWO weight classes, and not having been a knockout artist or elite heavy puncher at 154 or 160 (notable KOs are Kirkland?!? And 140lber Khan). Kovalev showed these attributes in all fights prior to Canelo including the Eledier fights Again there are better counterpunchers than Canelo that have faced much fiercer resistance. You don't just stop throwing completely and not throw intent on anything just because you have a very good counterpuncher or heavy puncher in front of you (which I've noted Canelo is not) . See Graham vs Julian Jackson.. Jackson was a scary hitter, yet Graham was still committing to his punches whislt being cautious. Kovalev even at the old age he fought Canelo had arguably the p4p1 jab in boxing. Yet he couldnt land or throw it fully extended or with intent throughout 11 rounds. See 36 yo Golovkin and smaller Lara land straight shots and extend their punches throughout against Canelo. You're telling me Kovalev couldn't do this from round 1?
Kovalev threw 577 jabs, a career high for him, and landed 63. He also managed to land more punches on Canelo than Erislandy Lara, Callum Smith and Caleb Plant, and just slightly less than Jacobs, who did go a round and a half longer than he did. You're only seeing what you want to see. It's called confirmation bias. You have you mind made up it was fixed, and it's blinded you to reality.
