It is questionable how much Kovalev had left in the tank but he seemed to tire early and the shot that hurt him initially did'nt seem overly heavy by LH standards. Do limits on rehydration affect punch resistance ? If they do, in the wake of recent fighter deaths, how are they something that boxing can continue to facilitate ?
Every shot Canelo threw was vicious and full of spite. They took their toll in the end as much as / if not more than any rehydration in my opinion.
Why do you think Alvarez insisted on a rehydration clause ? However spiteful his shots were, they were those of a middle weight. Kovalev has been conditioned to take far heavier throughout his career. He has also always been fully rehydrated when taking them.
People will work to the limits of whatever rules are put in place. Day before weigh-ins were brought in to prevent Mancini-Kim type scenarios, where serious dehydration from making weight was likely a contributory factor in a ring tragedy. Day before weigh-ins brought their own issues like Gatti-Gamache, where a fighter was left brain damaged by a much larger opponent boiling himself down to an unnatural weight and they packing the pounds back on in time for the fight. Rehydration clauses were brought in partially to prevent huge weight cuts creating size discrepancies in a sport with fixed weight divisions. It does of course create its own issues. With Kovalev-Canelo, I think that if "only" rehydrating 10lbs is unnatural, it's probably a sign that you're fighting at too low a weight. Kovalev's recorded fight night weight was only 188 for Hopkins and bang on 185 for Caparello, so we shouldn't be talking about a huge impact here anyway.
Kovalev was IBF champion for ages and they do the 10lbs rehydration stipulation so this wouldn't have been anything Kovalev wasn't used to.
