Kovalev was clearly instructed to take EVERYTHING off his shots. He threw and landed only one right hand to the body (around round 3 or 4), and it clearly had an effect on Canelo. He then spent the next few rounds throwing half-assed jabs, never working the body once.
The finish was legit, seeing as Kovalev has a cracked glass chin these days, but the fact he telegraphed any hard right hand he threw = planned. And they got the perfect trainer for the job. Buddy McGirt, the guy who tried to get Gatti to out-jab and outbox Floyd. Of course a guy that brilliant would advise a puncher to eliminate his greatest assets in order to "win rounds" against one of boxing's biggest cash cows.
The finish was legit, seeing as Kovalev has a cracked glass chin these days, but the fact he telegraphed any hard right hand he threw = planned. And they got the perfect trainer for the job. Buddy McGirt, the guy who tried to get Gatti to out-jab and outbox Floyd. Of course a guy that brilliant would advise a puncher to eliminate his greatest assets in order to "win rounds" against one of boxing's biggest cash cows.
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