Given they've used that tactic to death recently, it probably made sense to mix it up a bit.
The contract probably went something like this:
Do some light sparring for a few rounds, no heavy punches... pretend to get hurt in the championship rounds then leave your chin out for me.. then BAM here's your three million and enjoy your retirement.
YAWN... it was CNN hosting this fight right?
I would have gone for much cheaper than Sergey, and soaked up much more punishment too.
Like they routinely do in the Asian fight scene.
Canelo, if you read this, use PM.