There are some solid reasons that Canelo was chosen to fight Kovalev.

[apollo creed]

1. Kovalev is not in his prime anymore. He's fading.
2. Kovaelv is the biggest name at 175 lbs- good valuable scalp.
3. Kovalev was already beaten/defeated by Ward and Eleider Alvarez.
4. Kovalev is vulnerable to the body and I think he would be troubled by Canelo's sharp counters.
5. The risk is decent and the reward is high.

The big question is if Canelo will beat Kovalev, then he will dare to fight Gvozdyk-Beterbiev winner??

[1okstcsb]

My guess is that Canelo has a Immediate rematch clause if he loses, so he will not have the option of fighting the winner of Gvozdyk VS Beterbiev.

[apollo creed]

My guess is that Canelo has a Immediate rematch clause if he loses, so he will not have the option of fighting the winner of Gvozdyk VS Beterbiev.

If Canelo beats Kovalev.

[Gimp Mask]

I don't think he will stay at 175. I doubt he'll even stop at 168 for Callum Smith. He will likely go back to 160 to fight a year older GGG. Canelo likes low hanging fruit.

[margaret thatcher]

Yep....Kov, GGG x2, Floyd, Jacobs, Cotto, Lara, Trout

Canelo is a total can crusher

[apollo creed]

I don't think he will stay at 175. I doubt he'll even stop at 168 for Callum Smith. He will likely go back to 160 to fight a year older GGG. Canelo likes low hanging fruit.

lol that's true.

[apollo creed]

Yep....Kov, GGG x2, Floyd, Jacobs, Cotto, Lara, Trout

Canelo is a total can crusher

His resume is top notch but he got a few notable gifts too.

[Gimp Mask]

And most of those fights had stipulations/catchweights/rehydration clauses. He didn't even want to give Kov an extra week of rest.

[kbackup408]

Any news if there is a rehydration clause? Just from the eye test doesn't look like Kovalev baloons up in weight next day

This is Canelo's best test since the first GGG bout

[Enlightened-One]

The big question is if Canelo will beat Kovalev, then he will dare to fight Gvozdyk-Beterbiev winner??

I’m not sure if the use of the word “dare” is appropriate when considering the calibre of names listed on Canelo’s resume. The real issue here is whether there’s enough money to be made to motivate business rivals to work together.

Artur Beterbiev and Oleksandr Gvozdyk are both Top Rank/ESPN fighters and Canelo is with GBP/DAZN.

For sure, Sergey Kovalev is indirectly affiliated with Top Rank, due to his ties with Kathy Duva’s Main Events, but it’s clear that the only reason why Bob Arum has allowed ‘Krusher’ to face the Mexican is because the event generates a massive amount of money.

For instance, Main Events and Top Rank will both receive a sizable chunk of Sergey Kovalev’s $12m payday.

I believe that promoters usually deduct between 20% to 25% of their fighter’s gross purse if they compete on another promoter’s card. And it is rumoured that Bob Arum’s Top Rank typically deducts 27% from his fighter’s purses.

So I’m not so sure the victor of Beterbiev-Gvozdyk would be regarded as a big enough name for Canelo, as well as there being enough money to motivate Top Rank/ESPN to work with GBP/DAZN.

In reality, there are several names within the DAZN stable of fighters that Canelo is probably capable of earning bigger paydays against than the likes of Gvozdyk and Beterbiev.

[Onekrazyrican]

With the way boxing works these days who can blame him? Rocky Fielding having a belt at 168 was a blessing. An all mexican battle with Zurdo Ramirez would have made sense but compared to Fielding it was a hughe risk. It made sense to just add that belt to his record without having the intention to actively compete at that division.

175 presents another blessing with Kova showing so much weakness lately. They must have been really scared when Yarde almost takes that meal ticket away. Kova survived and it made sense to take that fight before anything else gets in the way. No need to compete at 175 pounds either.

I agree "dare" is not the right word to use. Canelo has the tools to be competitive in any weight class. I guess it just makes sense to keep him winning for the DAZN deal to work. A loss might affect casuals perception so every risk has to be calculated.

[conan_the_cribber]

I don't think he will stay at 175. I doubt he'll even stop at 168 for Callum Smith. He will likely go back to 160 to fight a year older GGG. Canelo likes low hanging fruit.

Loosen the mask Gimp, you're not getting enough oxygen to the brain.

[conan_the_cribber]

The name of this thread is back to front.

"There are some reasons that Kovalev was chosen to fight Canelo" or

"There are some reasons that Canelo chose to fight Kovalev".

At the moment it means Kovalev chose Canelo which is not the case. Canelo is the big draw and he chose his dance partner.

[greg]

The name of this thread is back to front.

"There are some reasons that Kovalev was chosen to fight Canelo" or

"There are some reasons that Canelo chose to fight Kovalev".

At the moment it means Kovalev chose Canelo which is not the case. Canelo is the big draw and he chose his dance partner.

I assume the OP means that Canelo was chosen by DAZN to fight Kovalev..

[oogiebe]

The name of this thread is back to front.

"There are some reasons that Kovalev was chosen to fight Canelo" or

"There are some reasons that Canelo chose to fight Kovalev".

At the moment it means Kovalev chose Canelo which is not the case. Canelo is the big draw and he chose his dance partner.

I assume the OP means that Canelo was chosen by DAZN to fight Kovalev..

Based on the post in the opening (aside from the title), I took it as Canelo choosing Kov now.

[fanman]

1. Kovalev is not in his prime anymore. He's fading.
2. Kovaelv is the biggest name at 175 lbs- good valuable scalp.
3. Kovalev was already beaten/defeated by Ward and Eleider Alvarez.
4. Kovalev is vulnerable to the body and I think he would be troubled by Canelo's sharp counters.
5. The risk is decent and the reward is high.

The big question is if Canelo will beat Kovalev, then he will dare to fight Gvozdyk-Beterbiev winner??

yes , all good points. however:
1) kovalev though not prime is still good and showed character to come back in his last 2 wins
2) kov is the biggest name. with the best legacy, and arguably still the best lhw
3) already beaten. but by ward by low blows, and alvarez avenged
4) vulnerable to body shots by strong lhw's, will canelo's power carry up to 175 - there must be doubts
5) risk and reward are certainly high - real risk of taking a beating and denting star power

6) the fight on such short notice - can kovalev have recuperated & be able to go through a hard camp straight away - or will he come in flat? - certainly for the money & pride you'd expect kov to get himself in decent shape

despite all the reasons, canelo is not a light heavy, did not actually face one of the very top super-middles.
at some point power, strength & size of kovalev will have to tell, surely