Comments Thread For: McGirt: Kovalev Will "Detour From Deep Waters" vs. Canelo

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Hall of Fame fighter-turned-trainer Buddy McGirt is largely responsible for the revival of Sergey Kovalev's career that has seen the Russian rebound after a crushing KO loss to Eleider Alvarez in 2018 to go on and score back-to-back wins this year that's put him on the path to fight Canelo Alvarez on Saturday.
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[Jim Tom]

Canelo is a good fighter but this fight is not good for him. I watched him train and wasn’t impressed with his work rate. He is carrying too much weight and giving up too much range. I think Kovalev will batter him or even take him out

[Adamsc151]

It's not so much the extra weight that could hinder Canelo, given enough time he could adapt well enough to a new body shape. The problem lies in piling on the lbs for these one-off fights at 168 or 175 then dropping back down to defend the titles he has at 160 immediately afterwards.
If anyone thinks this is a practice that works well, all they have to do is look at Roy Jones Jr. Arguably the best ever at 168/175 (coming from a massive Calzaghe fan), goes up to HW to win a title during the height of his abilities, then comes back down and never again looks anything like the fighter he once was.

[joe strong]

It's not so much the extra weight that could hinder Canelo, given enough time he could adapt well enough to a new body shape. The problem lies in piling on the lbs for these one-off fights at 168 or 175 then dropping back down to defend the titles he has at 160 immediately afterwards.
If anyone thinks this is a practice that works well, all they have to do is look at Roy Jones Jr. Arguably the best ever at 168/175 (coming from a massive Calzaghe fan), goes up to HW to win a title during the height of his abilities, then comes back down and never again looks anything like the fighter he once was.

this is a very valid statement. RJJ was never the same after the Ruiz fight. He packed on 20-25 lbs for that fight then when he went back down to 175 his reflexes were not the same. He was getting hit by punches he used to easily avoid then counter. Tarver flattened him in that 2nd fight only a year or so after the Ruiz fight.

[Califire209]

Canelo will gas in the later rounds, he can't afford to take a rest against Kovalev. I don't believe Canelo will get past Kovalev's jab either, it will look like Mikey Garcia trying to fight on the inside with Spence

[DeeMoney]

Alright, seeing as how I'm outta town and may not have a shot to later, I'll post my prediction for what will go down (you know, because I am sure everyone is waiting for my opinion)...

Rounds 1-2
Silent rounds, both guys just feeling each other out. Nothing of consequence landed, cautious start to the fight.
Judges Cards: 2-0 Canelo, 1-1, 1-1
Fan Consensus: 1-1

Rounds 3-4
Canelo, having gotten Kovalev’s timing down, begins to work his way in. Effectively slips the jab and works his way to the body. He lands some decent combos and is controlling the tempo. The announcers begin to lament that if Kovalev doesn’t change things up soon it may be a short night
Judges Cards: 4-0, 3-1, 3-1 Canelo
Fan Consensus: 3-1 Canelo

Rounds 5-7
Having felt Canelo’s power, and feeling confident that he can walk through it, Kovalev begins to let go with the offense a bit more. He is now walking down Canelo and landing flush with a number of 1-2s, as Canelo gets on his bicycle and is on the back foot. Unfortunately for Kovalev, the judges have a natural inclination towards mean regression, and not wanting to score three in a row for the B-side. Each will give Kovalev 2 of the 3 rounds, but in the name of not scoring too wide for the dog none give him the three he actually earned
Judges Cards: 5-2, 4-3, 4-3 Canelo
Fan Consensus: 4-3 Kovalev

Round 8
Weathering Kovalev’s storm Canelo launches a comeback and has a great round. Mutliple combos to the body and dictating tempo Canelo has his best round of the fight; the announcers start to wonder whether or not Kovalev’s stamina is good enough to make it to the end and if his age is starting to play a factor.
Judges Cards: 6-2, 5-3, 5-3 Canelo
Fan Consensus: 4-4

Round 9
Feeling confident in what he did Canelo takes the round off, Kovalev doesn’t press the issue. A silent round with little to nothing of note taking place. Two of the judges will score it for Kovalev though, partly because he did better than the last round partly because one of them already has Canelo with a big lead and its best not to have a really wide card.
Judges Cards: 6-3, 6-3, 5-4 Canelo
Fan Consensus: 4-4-1

Round 10
Kovalev does most of the work in this round as Canelo is just playing defense. Kovalev throws more and lands more, but Canelo makes him miss a fair amount of times. Canelo doesn’t really land anything of note, but is given the round by one judge simply because Kovalev doesn’t land at will.
Judges Cards: 7-3, 6-4, Canelo 5-5
Fan Consensus: 5-4-1 Kovalev

Rounds 11-12
The championship rounds are each battles back and forth. Both men letting their hands go, both landing flush, the crowd is hyped and its great action as both men finally are fighting at a high level in the same round. They are both roughly equal rounds- with Kovalev landing a bit better in the 11th than 12th, though Canelo being fresher and moving better in the final round. All judges split these last two.
Judges Cards: 8-4, 7-5, Canelo 6-6 Draw
Fan Consensus: 6-5-1 Kovalev

Aftermath
Canelo wins a majority decision, says its for Mexico and his fans, when asked who he’ll fight next says he wants the toughest challenges out there. When GGG is brought up he’ll say he already proved he is better but if that’s who the fans want then maybe he’ll make it happen. Kovalev is effusive in his praise, though feels like he clearly won the fight. Says he is unsure who he’ll fight next or whether he will retire. Announcers try to hype it as FOTY.
Fans flock to the internet, most claiming Kovalev should have won or it should have been a draw. Rounds 5-7 are rehashed and everyone points out whatever specific aspect of the archaic scoring system that best supports their argument.
Canelo fans claim this solidifies him as FOTD and clearly and ATG, the anti-Canelo crowd rebuts with him mostly making his name against old fighters and getting numerous advantages with the judges. They bicker like little kids and just as with the fight itself, nothing really is solved.

[4truth]

I doubt Canelo will put on more than 3-4 pounds extra for this fight, probably less. I mean he was 175 for his fights at 155/Canelo weight. The main advantage I see for Canelo here is that he won't have to dehydrate himself for the weigh in, he's going to look stronger and fitter. (is fitter even a word? )

[SteveM]

Alright, seeing as how I'm outta town and may not have a shot to later, I'll post my prediction for what will go down (you know, because I am sure everyone is waiting for my opinion)...

*******************************
Fans flock to the internet, most claiming Kovalev should have won or it should have been a draw. Rounds 5-7 are rehashed and everyone points out whatever specific aspect of the archaic scoring system that best supports their argument.
Canelo fans claim this solidifies him as FOTD and clearly and ATG, the anti-Canelo crowd rebuts with him mostly making his name against old fighters and getting numerous advantages with the judges. They bicker like little kids and just as with the fight itself, nothing really is solved.

entertaining and quite probable prediction

[Divine Hammer]

smart gameplan. all canelo, his team and fan boys talking about body shots. when kovalevs takes that away with his movement and hard punches, canelo will fall apart.believe it.

[hitmanjosh]

I wonder if Kovalev is teaching McGirt how not to say

No Mas!

McGirt no dam well as soon as it get thick he will do what he does, Ref that's it; that's enough!

I'm just saying