Who would have won, Sergey Kovalev or Bektemir Melikuziev?

[Sweet Dick Willie]

I don't even understand how an opponent of Kovalev's caliber was supposed to be Bek's, what, 7th fight?

However, I was expecting the fight to go pretty much the same routes Kovalev-Canelo went. That was off course before Gabe Rosado happened. Now we'll never know.

What's in the future for The Bully? Canelo??

[Perseus]

Bektemir was spectacularly ko'd by Rosado.
A fight with Kovalev would have ended the same way.......a faded version of Kov is still bigger, better and heavier handed than Rosado.

The future for Bektemir?
Next up for him is a guy that's been stopped seven times. Expect more of that caliber opponent and Bektemir will never win a notable fight.

[Jake Savage]

Anything is possible in life guys. Bektemir was stopped by Rosado but Rosado is a hell of a veteran and in hindsight, Bektemir probably needed more pro experience before facing a guy as seasoned as Rosado.

Can Bektemir come back and be a world champion? Hell yes.

Bernard Hopkins, a hall of famer, lost his first fight.
Wladimir Klitschko was TKOd 2 times (Ross Purrity, Corrie Sanders) before becoming the longest reigning heavyweight champion of all time (he tied Joe Louis record of 20 defenses).

One loss means nothing. Losing is a part of the sport and its how you man up and rebuild that matters.

Bektemir can come back and be a world champion, maybe even a unified world champion but it depends on him, how he handles the loss, and what kind of man he is.

[DrDuke]

The thing is, Rosado took some helluva damage before scoring a comeback KO. The question is, how good Kovalev could be that night.

[brilo33]

krusher would have ko him, he was quality when he was at his best sergey

[JxhDel.]

Kovalev would have exposed him.

[Perseus]

The thing is, Rosado took some helluva damage before scoring a comeback KO. The question is, how good Kovalev could be that night.

Any version of Kovalev is better than Bektemir.