Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev - November 2, 2019

[lazboy]

Kovalev better have his dick guard made of steel.

[Enlightened-One]

I can't stand Canelo...

I neither like nor dislike Canelo. Maybe because I can’t speak Spanish and I’m not from his neck of the woods, so I don’t really know the guy to formulate an opinion either way.

That being said, I don’t really understand the reason why he compels a certain section of fight fans to feel venomous hatred towards him.

For sure, there might be one or two reasons why he might deserve a certain amount of criticism, but not to the extremes we’re seeing in this forum.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that sometimes it’s challenging to appreciate certain fighters if they’re not your cup of tea, but the severity of the animosity towards Canelo in particular seems kind of weird to me. It’s the sheer intensity of the negative emotions his name conjures that confuses me.

Are people jumping on the anti-Canelo bandwagon, simply because they’re trying to fit in by adhering to mainstream popular opinion or is something else going on here, as I just don’t get it?

[Counter-puncher]

Canelo used to make undersized guys like Josesito Lopez and matthew hatton come up in weight to fight him, when he absolutely dwarfed them. I fvcking hated him for feasting on Josesito Lopez in particular- when Lopez fought Alvarez, he had never had a single fight at 154lbs, you could actually make an argument he wasn't a very big welterweight, and he never fought at 154lbs again for the rest of his career IIRC. I belive, similarly, that Hatton ahd never fought at 154 and never would fight there again. thats not just a bit of cherrypicking, thats a scumbag using his star and dollar potential to entice undersized guys up in weight to get a beating.

[Enlightened-One]

Canelo used to make undersized guys... come up in weight to fight him...

The majority of GGG’s title defences came against fighters that previously (and relatively recently) campaigned in lower weight classes, yet he’s adored. I can list those opponents if you like?

when Lopez fought Alvarez, he had never had a single fight at 154lbs...

Kell Brook, Vanes Martirosyan and Gabriel Rosado had never competed at 160lbs prior to facing GGG (I'm sure that Dominic Wade hadn't either), yet Gennadiy is adored.

...thats not just a bit of cherrypicking, thats a scumbag using his star and dollar potential to entice undersized guys up in weight to get a beating....

Canelo was a super-lightweight when he made his professional debut, will be competing in a sixth weight class for his upcoming bout and has also faced plenty of guys that were much bigger than himself, especially recently when he faced the likes of Chavez Jr., Golovkin, Fielding, Jacobs and Kovalev.

For sure, you’re entitled your opinions and it’s not for me to say who you should or should not like, but the reasons you’ve cited to explain your apparent venomous hatred of Canelo just seems a little weak to me, since there are other fighters that are guilty of committing the same infractions yet receive constant praise and adulation.

OK, so you don't like Canelo and that's fine by me. Thanks for trying to explain things anyway.

[lazboy]

Canelo used to make undersized guys like Josesito Lopez and matthew hatton come up in weight to fight him, when he absolutely dwarfed them. I fvcking hated him for feasting on Josesito Lopez in particular- when Lopez fought Alvarez, he had never had a single fight at 154lbs, you could actually make an argument he wasn't a very big welterweight, and he never fought at 154lbs again for the rest of his career IIRC. I belive, similarly, that Hatton ahd never fought at 154 and never would fight there again. thats not just a bit of cherrypicking, thats a scumbag using his star and dollar potential to entice undersized guys up in weight to get a beating.

I was disgusted by the Khan fight...that came out of nowhere. Then he fought like beast vs ggg in the second fight. He commanded my respect but I’m still sceptical regarding how clean he is and all the other a side benefits. Plus he had been training since 2015 for G. I’m very ambivalent about him. His resume also annoys me - it seems very impressive. Lot of big names but faded and/or generally smaller than him. This kovalev fights good though, very interesting, maybe he’s got a lot of confidence and wants a challenge post ggg.

[lazboy]

Canelo used to make undersized guys... come up in weight to fight him...

The majority of GGG’s title defences came against fighters that previously (and relatively recently) campaigned in lower weight classes, yet he’s adored. I can list those opponents if you like?

when Lopez fought Alvarez, he had never had a single fight at 154lbs...

Kell Brook, Vanes Martirosyan and Gabriel Rosado had never competed at 160lbs prior to facing GGG (I'm sure that Dominic Wade hadn't either), yet Gennadiy is adored.

...thats not just a bit of cherrypicking, thats a scumbag using his star and dollar potential to entice undersized guys up in weight to get a beating....

Canelo was a super-lightweight when he made his professional debut, will be competing in a sixth weight class for his upcoming bout and has also faced plenty of guys that were much bigger than himself, especially recently when he faced the likes of Chavez Jr., Golovkin, Fielding, Jacobs and Kovalev.

For sure, you’re entitled your opinions and it’s not for me to say who you should or should not like, but the reasons you’ve cited to explain your apparent venomous hatred of Canelo just seems a little weak to me, since there are other fighters that are guilty of committing the same infractions yet receive constant praise and adulation.

OK, so you don't like Canelo and that's fine by me. Thanks for trying to explain things anyway.

[Counter-puncher]

For sure, you’re entitled your opinions

That's big of you, EO, it means a lot to me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I was a little nervous about holding my own opinions but you've set my mind at ease. That's the kind of generosity of spirit that makes you so well-liked on here

[lazboy]

For sure, you’re entitled your opinions

That's big of you, EO, it means a lot to me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I was a little nervous about holding my own opinions but you've set my mind at ease. That's the kind of generosity of spirit that makes you so well-liked on here

[Enlightened-One]

Apparently Canelo's team are saying that Jemall Charlo, Gennadiy Golovkin, Billy Joe Saunders and Artur Beterbiev are the fighters he’s considering facing immediately after the Sergey Kovalev bout:


I expect Canelo to eventually move back down to middleweight after his 175lbs bout against Kovalev, but Cinco de Mayo 2020 might be too soon for that to happen.

So perhaps the plan is for Canelo to face GGG or Billy Joe Saunders for an interim bout at 168lbs prior to making his inevitable return to middleweight.

[boxing_rocks]

I have some hope that Kovalev will punch arrogance along with other crap out of Canelo.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[ValMar]

I can't stand Canelo...

I neither like nor dislike Canelo. Maybe because I can’t speak Spanish and I’m not from his neck of the woods, so I don’t really know the guy to formulate an opinion either way.

That being said, I don’t really understand the reason why he compels a certain section of fight fans to feel venomous hatred towards him.

For sure, there might be one or two reasons why he might deserve a certain amount of criticism, but not to the extremes we’re seeing in this forum.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that sometimes it’s challenging to appreciate certain fighters if they’re not your cup of tea, but the severity of the animosity towards Canelo in particular seems kind of weird to me. It’s the sheer intensity of the negative emotions his name conjures that confuses me.

Are people jumping on the anti-Canelo bandwagon, simply because they’re trying to fit in by adhering to mainstream popular opinion or is something else going on here, as I just don’t get it?

First of all, I like Canelo, I like him very much. A solid half of boxing fans don't like him, it is not so difficult to explain.
- There was a lot of weight/catcweight games in his career.
- There was a lot of avoiding opponents in their primes.
- More than twice, there were the gift decisions, and many fans (beyond of his country) despise the fighters who are beloved/protected by the judges and refs.

[Ruthless-RKO]

This fight seems like it's come waaaaay too quick!

[Enlightened-One]

Only ten weeks separates Kovalev’s bouts against Yarde and Canelo.

For most 36½ year old fighters, I’d say that would pose problems and should be considered a really bad thing, because older bodies need more time to recover.

However, Sergey’s fight against Yarde was pretty one-sided, barring the eighth round, and the Russian is a notorious heavy heavy-drinker.

So the lack of time between bouts may prove advantageous for the Krusher, because he wouldn’t have had enough time to needlessly gain weight due to his unhealthy diet/lifestyle and he would have entered the training camp for the Canelo bout in much better condition than what he normally does.

Even though I’m still expecting a one-sided bout, with Canelo emerging victorious, I am in agreement with Andre Ward’s concerns about the Mexican’s physique, because Alvarez’s recent training videos portray him to be needlessly bulky and a tad slow.

Anyway, I’m going to stick to my guns and go with a Canelo win, but admittedly I’m less confident about this prediction than I was a few weeks ago.

[Paci]

Canelo got the skillset to take the W.

But the Krusher is bigger and stronger. I do think that the golden boy is thinking about making the fight close too the last outing for Krusher. But, Canelo is smaller. More of a middleweight against a legit light heavyweight.

Kovalev will test him and get why he is happy cause it smells like a good payday for him. Im going with that Kovalev really got the motivation on fight night. Canelo is gonna have a long night ahead of him. A fit Kov is a nightmare for anyone around LHW.

[boxing_rocks]

Andre Ward and some of Canelo fans are concerned that he bulked up too much which will make him slower and cause him to take more punches. I hope they are right

[gilgamesh]

Andre Ward and some of Canelo fans are concerned that he bulked up too much which will make him slower and cause him to take more punches. I hope they are right

He's not exactly a speed demon in the first place. I mean he ain't slow, but he ain't the fastest guy in the world either. Kovalev definitely has a better physique for boxing.

The referee is Russell Mora though so he'll be able to low blow the sh*t out of Kovalev.

[boxing_rocks]

Andre Ward and some of Canelo fans are concerned that he bulked up too much which will make him slower and cause him to take more punches. I hope they are right

He's not exactly a speed demon in the first place. I mean he ain't slow, but he ain't the fastest guy in the world either. Kovalev definitely has a better physique for boxing.

The referee is Russell Mora though so he'll be able to low blow the sh*t out of Kovalev.

Hopefully after Ward II, Kovalev and his trainer have something to counter that, for example hitting back with low blows. I prefer Kovalev controversially DQed instead of controversially stopped with low blows.

[Thomastearns]

He's not exactly a speed demon in the first place. I mean he ain't slow, but he ain't the fastest guy in the world either. Kovalev definitely has a better physique for boxing.

The referee is Russell Mora though so he'll be able to low blow the sh*t out of Kovalev.

Hopefully after Ward II, Kovalev and his trainer have something to counter that, for example hitting back with low blows. I prefer Kovalev controversially DQed instead of controversially stopped with low blows.

Same here.

As they say, 'Protect yourself at all times'.

Especially those times the referee chooses not to.

I believe the Canelo camp have timed Kovalev right, but it would still be wonderful if Sergey has something left against the PED - addled Mexican.

As Malignaggi said recently this fight is spitting in the face of boxing.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/talksport. ... valev/amp/

[ewenhay]

I neither like nor dislike Canelo. Maybe because I can’t speak Spanish and I’m not from his neck of the woods, so I don’t really know the guy to formulate an opinion either way.

That being said, I don’t really understand the reason why he compels a certain section of fight fans to feel venomous hatred towards him.

For sure, there might be one or two reasons why he might deserve a certain amount of criticism, but not to the extremes we’re seeing in this forum.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that sometimes it’s challenging to appreciate certain fighters if they’re not your cup of tea, but the severity of the animosity towards Canelo in particular seems kind of weird to me. It’s the sheer intensity of the negative emotions his name conjures that confuses me.

Are people jumping on the anti-Canelo bandwagon, simply because they’re trying to fit in by adhering to mainstream popular opinion or is something else going on here, as I just don’t get it?

First of all, I like Canelo, I like him very much. A solid half of boxing fans don't like him, it is not so difficult to explain.
- There was a lot of weight/catcweight games in his career.
- There was a lot of avoiding opponents in their primes.
- More than twice, there were the gift decisions, and many fans (beyond of his country) despise the fighters who are beloved/protected by the judges and refs.

Yep.

Plus the failed drug test

[Evander]

Can't wait to see the weigh in and on night body to see where Canelo has put that weight on.

[Enlightened-One]

Can't wait to see the weigh in and on night body to see where Canelo has put that weight on.

Even though he looks massively muscular on the recent YouTube videos, he'll look small compared to Krusher. So the size disparity between boh men may conceal the Mexican’s physical gains.

[Evander]

Can't wait to see the weigh in and on night body to see where Canelo has put that weight on.

Even though he looks massively muscular on the recent YouTube videos, he'll look small compared to Krusher. So the size disparity between boh men may conceal the Mexican’s physical gains.

What did he do ?

[Enlightened-One]

Even though he looks massively muscular on the recent YouTube videos, he'll look small compared to Krusher. So the size disparity between boh men may conceal the Mexican’s physical gains.

What did he do ?

Canelo claims he only weighs between 178lbs to 180lbs between bouts, which is supposedly typical for middleweights, since it’s normal for fighters to be slightly heavier out-of-competition than their rehydrated ring-weight.

However, he’s a pretty big guy and I feel he is likely understating the mark a bit. He is probably closer to 190lbs between bouts. So I highly doubt Canelo has needed to do much to compete at 175lbs, other than refraining from cutting much weight.

The figures I’m quoting may seem a tad unrealistic, but you’ve got fighters like Jarret Hurd who immediately blew up to 190lbs six weeks after his 154lbs fight against Erislandy Lara.

Terence Crawford posted a tweet of his weighing scales illustrating the fact that he weighed 177lbs between training camps whilst competing at 140lbs.

And let’s not forget that only one week after his 143lbs catch-weight fight against Danny Garcia, Lamont Peterson rehydrated to a massive 182lbs.

So I’m pretty sure something similar has happened to Canelo. He wouldn’t have needed to take any dubious substances to quickly gain weight, since it's likely he’s always been huge between fights.

Incidentally, Sergey Kovalev’s rehydration weight on fight night against Canelo will be around the 190lbs mark, but I’m confident the Russian could weigh approaching 210lbs between bouts, which means that the Mexican is still facing an opponent that is naturally much bigger than himself.

[boxing_rocks]

What did he do ?

I’m confident the Russian could weigh approaching 210lbs between bouts

In one of interviews a few years ago, Kovalev said that he is losing 8-9 kilos in a camp which is only around 20 lbs, so your "confidence" isn't worth much.