Now that the poll verifies Canelo to be the prohibitive favorite over Sharkey, we must assume May pitches a shutout against the old gob.
That is absolutely not true. Each weighed in at either 9 or 10 that morning. Then they ate 3-5 meals. Then they took an as much water as they reasonably could 2 hours before the fight. If either man was dry they could gain another ten pounds, never mind another five. There was twelve hours of rest and consuming calories and fluid between weigh-in and fight. However, I suspect Kovalev wasn't that dry. I don't know that for sure, however. But the idea that they weighed in that morning and then didn't gain any weight during a day of rest and the first day partially unmitigated eating in, say, a week, is as far from right as can be.
If they have to weigh in again the next day at 6 o'clock for the rehydration clause, and then fight at 10/11, Kovalev isn't going to be eating three or four meals in that time. Kovalev at most, would've been 187 in the ring. The idea of a rehydration clause is to deny rehydration. Kovalev normally weighs in at 190ish; and he plainly wasn't himself on fight night. He wasn't gaining anywhere near as much as you think.
He's smaller than Sharkey's opponents as well. That's the point. Cool, so he's still smaller than Loughran, Wills, Schmeling, Stribling, Risko and Maloney. If you have to take past prime Sharkey to prove your point, then I'm afraid that you don't win this debate... Based on what he has power to gain Sharkey's respect? Jack banged up inside with Jack Dempsey and took punches from Max Schmeling. Canelo power would be nothing for him.
The second weigh in was reported at the time as the morning. As AM. I claimed 10 or 11 because I couldn't remember the specific time, and when I googled after I posted, all I found was that the weigh in was planned for that morning. Is that subsequent reporting, that 6pm thing? Even that just isn't true George. IF you cut any water to make 185 at 6pm and then eat a half chicken dinner at 1810 and drink 3.5 litres of water (about 8lbs on its own) you will gain a damn site more than 2lbs. A damn sight more. I dont' think Kovalev did, but you could gain treble that easily, maybe more. But that's into the detail now and neither you nor I have any idea what went on with Kovalev's rehydration between weigh-in (whenever it was) and second weigh-in. I hate to prattle on, but even that isn't true. 10lbs is more than enough to fully rehydrate if that's what you want to do with it. It's the old "beef broth" problem though, it's about momentum in recovery - if there is recovery - electrolytes, and most of all calories, energy. It's about the controlled spend of that poundage. Do you want to be completely rehydrated or filled with energy or split it? But it absolutely isn't about "denying rehydration", that is wrong.
You've made me question myself, as I thought the IBF rules for weigh ins to be in the morning, but Canelo wanted it four hours before the fight. From what I can remember, Canelo used to demand they were in the morning, so he himself could rehydrate past his own limits (eg: against Matthew Hatton) but from what I remember, somebody posted a pattern of him changing the contracted times to better suit his clauses. It might've been Serge, idk. Anyway, regardless, if it's not at 6pm, I apologize, however, the official weight still wasn't releases and regardless of the weight which would be changed whether or Kovalev took a **** before the fight, he still was a solid fifteen pounds off Sharkey against Carnera or Schmeling. Let me rephrase that last bit. What Canelo uses rehydration clauses for, is denying 'excessive' rehydration. By that, he means denying fighters what they would normally rehydrate for. This should be pretty obvious.
Yeah, 6pm would be a challenge to rehydration. The reporting at the time though was for am: https://www.boxingnews24.com/2019/11/canelo-vs-kovalev-has-rehydration-clause-in-contract/ "According to Dan Rafael, both fighters must weigh-in on Saturday morning for a secondary weight check, and neither fighter can go above 185 pounds." That doesn't make it so though, but that's how it was reported. I actually remember it being reported as 9am, but I can't confirm that. Regardless, Kovalev generally rehydrated to between 183lbs and 189lbs the morning of a fight. Then he added his day-weight. The amount would depend upon how everything was handled up until then, but it could be 12lbs. Certainly wouldn't be two! It's worth remembering that those HBO "unofficial weigh in" shits were unofficial in more ways than one, and what i mean by that is that it was catch as catch can - it was a question of when they caught the fighter. It might be one at two and one at four, which could be a difference of 6lbs. More. If you don't eat a day and then go for an Indian and three beers that evening, it's worth weighing yourself before and after. It's ****ing crazy. You can gain 4-7lbs just doing that, although it's mainly due to all the salt.
Kovalev was never that big, and Alvarez had imposed a hydration limit on top of it. Against Hopkins he was 185.
Read the thread. But again, if you have a weight for Hopkins, that weight was not taken at ringside. Kovalev may have eaten three meals and drank three litres of water after that weigh-in, all while resting. Against Jean Pascal he was 189lbs at rehydration, so even if that was ringside, he could be 190lbs by bell
I since edited it to say Kovalev. Here: Read the thread. But again, if you have a weight for Kovalev for the Hopkins fight, that weight was not taken at ringside. Kovalev may have eaten three meals and drank three litres of water after that weigh-in, all while resting. Against Jean Pascal he was 189lbs at rehydration, so even if that was ringside, he could be 190lbs by bell
For the pro Canelo crowd, by arguing he would dominate this fight, you are basically admitting a 5' height difference and 20+ pound weight difference can be overcome if you're skilled enough. I suggest you tread lightly before you make your next move, it could come back to bite you.
I think it is possible that he would still have been a light heavy. The difference would be that he would weigh closer to 175 in the ring at light heavy, but then he would come into catch weight or heavyweight fights at 190.
