Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev - 2 November 2019

[keithmoonhangover]

Teddy Atlas described the situation really well in an interview a while back. The promoter (or members of his company) often wine and dine the officials and representatives of the governing bodies the night before. He described other practices that go on, in what was a really frank interview. If I find it, I'll post it.

Well done that man.

[unknownman79]

Moretti and Lederman should be made to watch the 1st round and explain why they gave it to Canelo.

Totally corrupt or incompetent in their profession.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[bigjack]

I don't think Canelo's power will carry.

Looks like it did

[Boxerbeetle]

Interesting how people see this fight so differently. I really didn’t think much of Kovalev’s performance, he was on the backfoot throughout, hardly landed anything clean and then gassed late as usual. You could argue he might have been ahead on work rate alone, but the game plan from Canelo was clear - cut the ring off, take it late and then ktfo. Which is exactly how it went.

Edit: Although I would note that Canelo can afford these tactics more than most, as I’m sure he knew he wasn’t losing on the cards regardless as long as he kept it relatively close.

[leejonesjnr]

It is absolutely fascinating that so many of the people who care enough about boxing to register and use a boxing forum don't actually know what they are looking at when they watch a contest.

How did you see it then lee

More or less as it was.
I can imagine why people watching it in the arena might have thought Kovalev was way ahead as he was throwing a lot of shots, however with the benefit of the superior view given by the TV cameras it’s easy to see that Kovalev was just flicking out punches that were either only ever aimed at Alvarez gloves or the shots were blocked and deflected meaning that they are not scoring punches. Alvarez was certainly landing the more significant punches and whilst throwing many less, was landing more. I thought it was competitive throughout and wouldn’t have complained about either man being a few points ahead but the number of people incredulous that Alvarez was ahead at the time of the stoppage just seems silly.

[leejonesjnr]

It is absolutely fascinating that so many of the people who care enough about boxing to register and use a boxing forum don't actually know what they are looking at when they watch a contest.

And you're a world renowned authority are you?

A lot of the rounds were close, ckovalev pawed with the jab and threw few power shots, Canelo stalked and landed punches in singles often only a handful per round.

Kov was his own enemy, needed more authority in his shots, but would the judges have recognised it if he had?

I had him ahead by 1 or 2 rounds

Just a man with eyes who knows what the rules of boxing are.

[keithmoonhangover]

I don't think Canelo's power will carry.

Looks like it did

Aye. Bring on Andy Ruiz at a catchweight. Biggest fight in the history of contaminated meat.

[bigjack]

Looks like it did

Aye. Bring on Andy Ruiz at a catchweight. Biggest fight in the history of contaminated meat.

[Ricky]

Quite simply no case for Alvarez being ahead. None. his output was shocking and struggled closing range. I naturally favour the offensive foghter that takes the centre of the ring and throws the harder leather but Canelo had little success, he was static on his feet, he didn't attempt any kind of peekaboo to get under the jab. Nothing. He obviously felt that stalking Kov and throwing haymaker countershots would eventually wear him out - and it did, and he found the ko shot. So his tactics paid off, but he was well behind (or should've been).

[handsofstone]

Interesting how people see this fight so differently. I really didn’t think much of Kovalev’s performance, he was on the backfoot throughout, hardly landed anything clean and then gassed late as usual. You could argue he might have been ahead on work rate alone, but the game plan from Canelo was clear - cut the ring off, take it late and then ktfo. Which is exactly how it went.

Edit: Although I would note that Canelo can afford these tactics more than most, as I’m sure he knew he wasn’t losing on the cards regardless as long as he kept it relatively close.

Pretty much how I seen things, I was impressed with the work rate of Kovalev and a bit disappointed in Alvarez's but i thought Canelo's quality trumped the output of Kovalev in a few of the rounds, Alvarez has a great defense, he doesn't slip or evade shots, he just puts the earmuffs on and because he's so square and compact it's really hard to penetrate the shell like defence, a bit like how a prime Abraham dealt with fringe European level fighters

I had it even going into the 11th but no gripes with Kovalev being in front I knew even when watching it, it was gonna be a case of what you prefer but for me as good as Kovalev still is he's not the Krusher he once was, Canelo always looked the stronger more dangerous fighter in there, he was just outworked

[handsofstone]

Incredibly I've seen several people on Twitter claim the fix was in and I dont mean the scorecards, people genuinely claiming Kovalev took a dive , that right hand nearly took his jaw clean off the hinges, effing imbeciles

[dr_devious]

Yeah Kov was in a bad way and was lucky not to get his jaw broken by that last punch. Shame because in his prime he would have carried his game plan through to the end and got robbed on the scorecards. He was in a no-win situation tonight, hope he's made a packet out of it and calls it a day. Would like to see Canelo fight big bad Bert next

[Coco]

Don't matter if you think Kov won every minute of every round, he got knocked out.

[leejonesjnr]

Yeah Kov was in a bad way and was lucky not to get his jaw broken by that last punch. Shame because in his prime he would have carried his game plan through to the end and got robbed on the scorecards. He was in a no-win situation tonight, hope he's made a packet out of it and calls it a day. Would like to see Canelo fight big bad Bert next

In his prime he wouldn’t have been using those tactics. I imagine he wouldn’t have got the fight at his best.

[ShadrachSimmo]

Incredibly I've seen several people on Twitter claim the fix was in and I dont mean the scorecards, people genuinely claiming Kovalev took a dive , that right hand nearly took his jaw clean off the hinges, effing imbeciles

If that was a dive he and Alvarez are the best fckin actors ever.

I thought Dunos defeat looked a bit dodgy. That last left barely clipped him if it did at all. He went very wobbly after minimum contact.

[handsofstone]

Incredibly I've seen several people on Twitter claim the fix was in and I dont mean the scorecards, people genuinely claiming Kovalev took a dive , that right hand nearly took his jaw clean off the hinges, effing imbeciles

If that was a dive he and Alvarez are the best fckin actors ever.

I thought Dunos defeat looked a bit dodgy. That last left barely clipped him if it did at all. He went very wobbly after minimum contact.

Aye it never looked the hardest punch, Garcia looked to have landed a equilibrium shot

[Kilburn]

Great win for Canelo. He might have been behind in the real world but he was never under control, never discouraged. He was looking for the KO the whole way.

Penny for Anthony Yarde’s thoughts, watching Alvarez stroll up to light heavyweight, remain strong all the way through the fight and take out Kov with 2 punches.

[Grilling Machine]

I don't think there are overt bribes, it's just judges know that if they want to get high profile gigs, it's in their interest to favour the big promoters fighters.

I think that's the main one, but bribes come in different flavours. Monetary; sexual; fear... Maybe all three if you're dealing with Oscar! There are certainly groups in boxing I wouldn't want to upset, and personal safety's always gonna beat integrity over something as relatively minor as a few dodgy scores.

Kov did receive an undisclosed fee for we don't know quite what. I wouldn't be surprised if they went to him and said “Look, we don't want you blasting him out in a couple of rounds, so carry him into the second half and we'll give you a few extra mil”. Before going to Canelo with “Listen, we've heard he's not been able to train properly, so just go really easy until he tires himself out late”.

All I know for sure, having just watched it, is that for 10 rounds it was sparring.

[Terminator666]

Which is the fighter you would like to see Alvarez against? Not necessarily the one that’s likely to happen but who would be the biggest threat to him with a legitimate chance of winning?

[adislav123]

supermiddle:

Saunders. won't happen. canelo knows he would loose and not look good.

smith. no chance canelo wins this one.

light heavy: beterbiev by brutalizing beatdown.

[tiny_acres]

Which is the fighter you would like to see Alvarez against? Not necessarily the one that’s likely to happen but who would be the biggest threat to him with a legitimate chance of winning?

Callum Smith. I really want to see them fight

[kbackup408]

I am not hating on the result but 2 out of the 3 judges gave Canelo the opening round - that is so disheartening almost makes me want to not watch his bouts anymore.

Saunders shouldn't bother fighting Canelo there is no chance he would get the nod on the scorecards I am convinced

[Terminator666]

Would Alvarez be likely to come back down to SM? Don’t imagine he would

[kbackup408]

Would Alvarez be likely to come back down to SM? Don’t imagine he would

He is the king of fluctuating in weight - not sure what the motivation is at this point for him