Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Impossible to say now. But it doesn't change the fact that it happened and holds some historical significance. Either way, it's not about a single fight. Canelo and Kovalev both already have left their marks on the sport. Canelo obviously has more "prestige" legacy-wise, but there was a time when Krusher was known as the best light heavyweight in the world, and that's a tremendous feat any way you slice it.
I didn't insinuate that at all, and merely referenced it in my initial post due to many calling fix. Kovalev should have pushed the size you mention, more so, earlier. He was gassed and wasted. The fight was disappointing.
Not comparable at all. Tarver didn't look as bad and as fragile before facing Hopkins as Kovalev did before facing Canelo. Furthernore, Tarver went on to score some good wins at LHW, CW and HW divisions after that loss. No way in hell Kovalev can do the same thing. I expect him to get KTFOed by somebody like Maxim Vlasov soon
Kovalev certainly isn't prime but it's not like it was as big of a disgrace as Cotto's win over near crippled Sergio Martinez. Some people think that was an amazing win for him. It has historical significance and Canelo is the face of boxing. I think it will be remembered no different than a lot of other fights where a prime money guy beats an aged legend. Fighters like Mosley come to mind. When he lost to Floyd, Manny and Canelo...he was well past his best. Oscars loss to Pacquiao literally made Pac a PPV star and that was a laughable version of Oscar.
You can agree to getting knocked tf out and still have it a fix. Hell I would agree to go down in whatever round Canelo wanted me down in if the money was right. Meet some cute nurses when you bank millions.
What? Do you mean it's not going to look good when Kovalev gets KO1 with a jab by Mathieu Bauderlique in his shake the rust off bounce back match?
I dislike Canelo and want to see him lose by KO probably as much as @CST80 does. With that said, can we all please stop saying that it was a "fake KO". This was a legitimate KO, the final shot was on the chin and spun Kovalev's jaw. You cannot 'act' a chin-spin like that, especially at that speed. The whole way that Kovalev was hurt at the end of the fight was similar to his fights with ward II and Alvarez. I know all resumes can be picked apart, but Canelo's is more easier than others to do so. As I have said on here many times, Canelo is an elite level fighter with elite level protection, deception and trickery.
When you get to mid 30s in boxing (if you even get there) more often than not that's the time frame when u can get old in one fight.. I liken Kovalev now to Sergio Martinez somewhat when he had that hard night with Murray & then got blitzed by Cotto.. the Canelo fight was easy to call.. Kovalev is done. Some age well, some don't.. 3 KOs.. it's time to call it a day.. His last hurrah was Alvarez II.. but you can't keep pulling those type of performances out of the bag at 36. He had his last great performance & he has just had his 'ageing fight'.. call time champ.. nothing unusual about it.. it's just the nature of the beast if you're a clean fighter..
Tommy Hearns vs Dennis Andries/Virgil Hill Ray Leonard vs Donny LaLonde Mike McCallum vs Jeff Harding Roy Jones Jr vs McCallum/Virgil Hill/Ruiz/Tarver James Toney vs Jirov/Holyfield/Ruiz Bernard Hopkins vs Antonio Tarver/Jean Pascal/Cloud Kelly Pavlik vs Bernard Hopkins L Are we going to forget all of the other recent/semi-recent middleweights who successfully made the jump to light heavyweight and beyond? Canelo's victory over Kovalev should age like Leonard's over LaLonde. LaLonde dropped from the rankings and never reappeared after that loss. I expect similar things from Kovalev. However, when Tommy Hearns beat Dennis Andries and Virgil Hill they both went on to do big things. Hearn's light heavyweight victories aged better than Leonard's. Mike McCallum's victory over Jeff Harding will probably play out like Canelo's over Kovalev. Harding retired after the fight.
You're naming of a bunch of guys who parked at 168 and 175 before the title shot. Jumping straight to 175 and getting the title is rare.
And don't forget that when Hopkins went up to face Tarver, Tarver had bulked up to Heavyweight to film the Rocky movie. So by the time Tarver moved back down to fight Hopkins he was not in fighting shape. That was probably the worst version of Tarver ever that Hopkins beat, so in comparison Kovalev was much closer to his normal fighting self than Tarver was when he fought Hopkins.
And it was better than beating Lalonde. So it's the second best of three. Btw Tarver was 38 and cut a bunch of weight after the Rocky movie before that fight. Kovalev 36 and active.
Kovalev is way better than Lalondey and Canelo's win is better too.. Imagine if Canelo brought Kovalev down to 168 and his belt was still on the line..chit would really hit the fan then.
