Far fetched boxing rumors that turned out to be true

Yeah but not because he was purposely losing the fight is my point.

 

God all these people act stupid. Keep asking what would be Kovs motivation to not try to win?
How about MONEY.
Like hey if you take it easy and make it look good heres another 4 million in CASH. Not hard to do.

 

My god if he isn't wearing cuffs then I don't know what is.
You can actually see him PULL his punches.
Canelo is just pathetic.

 

If you aren't trying your hardest you're purposely losing lol. He was NOT giving it his all. Whether or not that was due to Canelo's pressure, Kovalev being shot, Kovalev taking a dive, doesn't matter the reason!

 

I don’t follow at all. He cornered Canelo and Canelo started setting traps in corner, fishing for a left hook counter in that round.

 

Source please. It’s scary how people can invent scenarios like this and convince themselves it’s fact.

 

If he wins, his next fight — be it rematch or with GGG or whoever — is probably worth a lot more CASH.

 

In fairness, it may have been an untraceable Bitcoin transaction.

 

Agree to disagree. If "trying your hardest" to inflict maximum damage to your opponent leaves you with a higher chance of being KO'd especially due to being weakened from a short turnaround after almost being KO'd 2 months prior, then pulling your shots and boxing on the move is your safest bet to WIN.
We've seen this gradual transition in style ever since Kovalev got with buddy McGirt.
He was fighting similarly vs Eleider Alvarez in the rematch except Alvarez had a high guard with no headmovement allowing you to fire a bit harder with less risk.

Let's also not forget Kovalev's weakness to the body. Missing a big right hand leaves you open to a left hook to the liver. Throwing a power jab(which requires you to hold your feet and shifty our bodyweight from back leg to front leg) leaves you open to the sweeping right hand to the body which Canelo tried from early on.

Kovalev also gasses easily and with the weight cut may have gassed even easier so not committing would also be a way to save energy.

In my opinion the way Kovalev fought was the SAFEST way to try to win the fight(given the circumstances and the conditions he entered the fight) and if he hadn't slowed down and gotten caught it would have been successful.

 

You're confusing playing it safe with simply trying to survive.

Ali vs Frazier 2 is a guy playing it safe to secure a decision win in a difficult match up with a relentless guy who dug into the body. Had Ali simply threw pitter patter jabs Frazier would have overwhelmed him but he was wise enough to at least land a few solid right hands and flurries to score and get the judge's attention. Andrade vs Fox is an example of a guy (Fox) who got hurt and spent the rest of the fight simply trying to survive.

Mayweather vs Cotto: Mayweather had Cotto badly hurt toward the end but knew he had the points lead and Cotto still had lethal hands so he played it safe and went for the decision. Broner vs Pacquiao is an example of a guy (Broner) who wanted no smoke with the aggressive volume puncher and fought to survive with the slim faint hope his clean shots and punch % would save him.

Or you could use several other examples like Morrison vs Foreman, Spence vs Garcia, etc of guys choosing not to mix it up and go for the safe route while landing enough to control the pace and get the opponent's respect.

Kovalev would be a latter example. Your excuses on his pathetic performance would only be valid IF A) we've never seen an example of a boxer playing it safe to win without looking like a scared gunshy chump, yet there are dozens of examples of boxers doing just that. B) Kovalev has multiple fights where he looks like that and this isn't an anomaly (which would mean he wasn't shot/gunshy rather he was simply using one of his strategies). And C) it doesn't look 10x worse and more glaring due to the fact Kovalev is the larger man whom you admit is cutting weight to get down to 175 yet was terrified of a non-puncher whose moving up to his 4th weight class.

There is no agreeing to disagree. Kovalev was either not trying or completely shot/gunshy. If you don't see it then try looking at actual shot fighters who can't pull the trigger such as 40 year old Klitschko or Mosley then get back to me. The body language tells you every thing.

And no you can't accuse me of being a Canelo hater. I thought he beat Lara, Trout, and even the 2nd GGG fight. My displeasure is aimed at Kovalev.

 

I'm not saying it's fact. All I'm saying is people keep asking how Kov could have benefited from losing and I said its really not hard to imagine somebody offering to pay him off.

Heres the thing: the best boxer Canelo faced-Mayweather- totally OUTCLASSED him when Mayweather was PAST his prime. He boxed Canelos ears off EASILY.
First GGG fight Canelo LOST. And while it was close GGG was the clear winner. Amd GGG is no longer in his prime either.
So the two very best boxers Canelo faced BEAT him- one totally dominated him and he got a GIFT with the second one. Both outside of their primes.
So what's that say about Canelo?

 

If Kov STILL wanted to box. Your talking about an older boxer whose a heavy drinker and is past his prime.
Much easier to take a pay off