Could Crawford have beaten Kovalev?

[IceTrayDaGang]

He also smashed Pascal and Cleverly to pieces. Was very unlucky to not get a win over Ward too.

Might be an unpopular opinion but I’d take prime Kovalev over Bivol and maybe even Beterbiev.

Kov is too stiff... Bivol is light on his feet, bounces around, constantly throws his jab, etc. Bivol over Kov to beat Crawford.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Kov is too stiff... Bivol is light on his feet, bounces around, constantly throws his jab, etc. Bivol over Kov to beat Crawford.

Kovalev had good feet too and he had a more effective jab than Bivol. The 1-2-1 he used to throw was a great combination.

[TheProudLunatic]

Not by trading with him like Nelo did.
Maybe Bud could have out boxed him ?

[ThunderFists]

guys, lets get back to reality here. kov was a solid light heavyweight with crushing power but also a very underrated boxer, he outboxed ward in that first fight and was schooling canelo before the stoppage, is crawford a better pure boxer than ward, perhaps, but slightly. add that to the fact kovalev is a light heavy and was knocking out guys his size with a jab, i think crawford has less than a 30% chance

[garfios]

Could Bud have beaten the Krusher?

The same drunken Kovalev, under the same circumstances canelo fought? Yes.

[garfios]

Only if Kov signed a contract where his purse was totally reliant on PPV numbers and projecting showed it was going to bomb, you know, just like what Kov did for the Ward rematch. )

Kov's terms for Ward rematch were his whole purse was based on PPV profits which there were none. I think you can guess what happened.

Why you're mentioning Ward? The TS wants an opinion not Andre, but because canelo.

[dibzvincent143]

I don't know, man.

Kov is too big, too strong.

Remember, Bud's taller with a longer reach than Canelo, so when Bud fought Canelo, he was physically the bigger man.

That wouldn't be the case with the 6ft tall Kovalev.

So you’re saying Bud couldn’t beat the guy who got KOed by the guy he just punked?

i understand prime Kov, but if were talking about the version nelo beat then im putting my money on crawford outsmarting him

[QueensburyRules]

So you’re saying Bud couldn’t beat the guy who got KOed by the guy he just punked?

i understand prime Kov, but if were talking about the version nelo beat then im putting my money on crawford outsmarting him

- - That why you so poor...

[ELPacman]

Who knows but who cares? That's another weight increase ask of Bud. He might of been able to pull it off but I think what he's already done is impressive enough.

[DeeMoney]

Triangle theory does not hold up so well, especially when weight differences are at play.
Crawford took a whole year to move up in weight three weight classes from his established weight, to what may have been the highest weight he could be near peak at. He then beat an older version of Canelo who himself is naturally bigger but was fighting closer to his prime weight.

A prime version of Canelo moved up one weight class to beat an older version of Kovalev. But keep in mind this was Canelo in his prime who was making 175 to beat a down version of Kov. There just is no prime version of Bud near that weight.

Essentially what is missing from the equation here is that it was Prime Canelo that beat Kov, but not the one who lost to Crawford. Thats not to say that Canelo is better than Crawford P4P, (Once again don't straw man me on this- Crawford is better than Canelo) thats just to say I don't know if this version of Crawford beats a prime Canelo. And, even if he does, can he move up in weight even more?

Everyone has their weight limits where they can still perform at or near their best