Was Canelo vs Kovalev fixed?

I disagree with your perspective. Kovalev did not look like the old Krusher leading up to Canelo, which is precisely why Canelo chose him as an opponent to begin with. He was severely declined and coming off of a recent war. He didn't want to exchange with Canelo because he knew he couldn't absorb the shots.

As I quoted above, Buddy McGirt told everyone what the gameplan was. He also attributed Kov's problems against Yarde to abandoning the jab. Kov became a different fighter under McGirt, who appreciated that Kov had lost two steps and couldn't bang anymore. So he turned him into a finesse guy and helped him beat Alvarez in the rematch that way. The Canelo fight was consistent with that approach. Kov was sluggish, looked damaged and fought skittishly. Even so, he won a decent number of rounds.

Canelo still has plenty of power at higher weights. Now, if you want to accuse him of being a juiced up peds monster, have at it. We do have evidence of it. Kov got stopped by Ward (with some low blow help). He got stopped by Storm. He got rocked by Yarde. He can't take a good shot anymore and especially without proper time to heal from his prior fight.

 

It's not about whether you disagree or not Kovalev objectively looked different in almost every dimension when you compare him to his performance against Canelo and every fight prior. If you can't accept that, then you're just being dishonest.

I've explained the differences in my post that you haven't argued against

 

A war... Right... Where he took punishment for 30 seconds then came back to brutally KO a heavy hitting cruiser prospect in Yarde with a jab.

Does being shot mean you cannot extend your arms properly or throw a single punch with intent over 11 rounds? Does it mean that you staying the opponents range and pull punches... Kovalev had one of if not the best straight 1-2 and jab and his jab was elite of the elite.. And very accurate.. You want to tell me coming off a short camp he just forgot how to extend his arms properly... Lol

He did this from round 1..Even being exhausted you can throw a punch with intent and with full extension, he wasn't doing that the whole fight

From a guy coming up two weight classes who wasn't a huge banger or KO artist at 154lbs or 160lbs...right

 

100% fixed! Even pro boxers like Badou Jack and Eubank Jr thought so along with so many fans, you would have to be a moron to not at least be on the fence about it.

 

Your opinion is not fact. I'm fine with you thinking he looked uniquely worse against Canelo. I thought he fought very timidly as well, even by his standards.

I actually was agreeing with you somewhat. He did not commit to his power shots. He did not want to get hit. That's part of what you are arguing, right?

 

Remember, Canelo was a substantial favorite in the fight. Kov was expected to lose, so it's hardly shocking that he would not be successful.

As for this post, I'll give you an analogue: Roy Jones vs Glen Johnson.

1. Kovalev was seriously hurt during the Yarde fight; Jones got concussed and KO'd with one shot by Tarver;
2. Kovalev returned to the ring in 2.5 months against Canelo; Roy returned 4.5 months later against Johnson;
3. Kovalev, from the first minute of the fight, fought tentatively and out of historical character against Canelo; Roy, from the first minute of the fight, fought tentatively and out of historical character against Johnson.
4. Kovalev has some boxing success but never physically imposed himself and got stopped suddenly in the 11th; Jones had no success and never physically imposed himself and got stopped suddenly in the 9th.

Those are your parallels. The key distinction is that Roy was favored against Johnson while Kov was the underdog. So it was more surprising to see even a faded Jones get pummeled and eventually starched, whereas the expectation was that Kov was shot and would not beat Canelo.

These scenarios are not uncommon in boxing. Aging fighters can't pull the trigger anymore. Sometimes they keep their power, but they can't land anything because they can't capitalize on the openings or they know they can't afford to get hit. I was hoping Kov would go out on his shield the way Wladimir did against Joshua, but instead he tried to box. I get it -- it's what McGirt trained him to do -- but that fight did damage his reputation.

No need for allegations of a fix, tho. The evidence doesn't support it.

 

Jim will fix this....

This content is protected

 

More from Buddy:

McGirt acknowledges the questions. But he sees a clear path to victory for his fighter. The jab, for one. Kovalev’s strength has long been a stiff jab. He knocked Yarde out with one. At 6’0,” Kovalev will have a three-inch height advantage on Saturday. McGirt knows Canelo will be targeting Kovalev’s body, but it will be Kovalev’s ability to continue to stuff the jab in his face. “If he finds himself in that situation, just hit the guy with a jab,” McGirt said. “It forces [Canelo] to reset. Hit him with the jab, and get the **** out of Dodge.”

 

You again haven't argued against any of my points. What is the point in debating with you when I'm the only one answering the questions? Literally like I'm debating with a wall. You're simply relying on a flawed comparison of Johnson vs Jones
1. For what little Jones did throw, he threw with intent and snap. Not to be seen at all by Kovalev against the much smaller fighter coming up in two weight classes. Literally zero straight punches with intent and full extension from an elite straight puncher, against a guy who was plodding forward occasionally moving his head. You seem to be of the false belief that a fighter who is shot cannot extend his arms fully and pulls punches from round 1 to round 11. Again, exhausted fighters still manage to extend on their punches and put intent on their punches.. Let alone against a much smaller guy coming up two weight classes who had minimal KO record.
2. Kovalev was hurt in one round against Yarde for 30 seconds.. He proceeded to come back and beat the **** out of him finishing him with a jab. A hard hitting cruiserweight prospect whose a fast counteepuncher got decimated by a jab. Seriously dude
3. Regardless of the flawed comparison, whose to say Jones Johnson wasn't a fix?

"Aging fighters can't pull the trigger anymore. Sometimes they keep their power, but they can't land anything because they can't capitalize on the openings or they know they can't afford to get hit." the amount of times I've answered this yet keep getting a non answer back is frustrating. I've answers this above and in several posts.

Add to that Canelo was plodding forward with minimal head movement. Whilst Kovalev was slowly pitty pattying Canelo's head which much of the time he received no response back from Canelo - hence Kovalev would have easily been able to land with faster commited straights, and something which would have been made all the more easier given the clear on display height and reach advantage.

 

I acknowledged your points by agreeing with some of them. We agree Kovalev fought timidly and did not commit to power shots. Are you trying to argue with me for agreeing with you?

Where we disagree is *why* he did these things. You see evidence of fraud. I see evidence of: 1) shot fighter; 2) coming back to the ring too quickly; 3) underdog and cherrypicked by team Canelo b/c everyone knew he was shot; 4) trending toward more volume and fewer evil intent shots in other fights, particularly Storm II; 5) fought exactly the way his trainer wanted him to fight and said he would fight; 6) got seriously KO'd.

All of the above point toward my conclusions ahead of yours. To put it another way, even if I agreed with your characterization of the events in the ring 100%, it still would not lead to a conclusion that Kov threw the fight. The evidence isn't there to support it.

 

I know. But I wanted to argue with him in good faith exactly for that reason. I'm confident that if people are new to this thread and read the exchange he and I are having, they'll see that I've presented the far more compelling argument. He'll never acknowledge that, of course, and I wouldn't expect him to.

 

I'm seriously questioning your ability to read or at least understand . And no that's not what I'm saying - you have time and time again failed to argue against the points Ive made. It is literally pointless having a debate with you