By Sean Jones: Sergey Kovalev made weight at 175 pounds on his second weigh-in attempt for his title defense of his WBO light heavyweight title against Saul Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Initially, Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs) weighed in one-quarter pound over the limit at 175.25 lbs. He stripped naked in a failed attempt to make weight on the spot, but it was no use. After quickly going back to his dressing room, Kovalev returned moments later and successfully weighed in at 175 lbs. For his part, the 29-year-old Canelo Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) weighed in at 174.5 lbs. Canelo looked good at the weight. He obviously isn’t going to pack on too much more weight overnight before the secondary weigh-in on Saturday morning.
Sergey looking frail and thin
Kovalev looked a little thin compared to the stocky, 5’8″ Canelo during the face off. Canelo exuded confidence, as if he has the fight in the bag. It’s not surprising because there will be a secondary weigh-in on Saturday morning as part of the rehydration clause in the contract.
Neither fighter can afford to go over 185 pounds without having to pay what ESPN calls a “severe weight penalty” in terms of money. Given that Kovalev is the bigger guy and the natural light heavyweight, he could suffer a lot more in needing to restrict fluids overnight. It’s pretty sad that Canelo included a rehydration clause for the fight. The whole ideal is Canelo is supposed to be challenging the WBO light heavyweight champion.
For Canelo to include a weight restriction, it’s a bad look because Kovalev could be weakened with the strength-draining rehydration clause. It’s bad enough that Kovalev is 36-years-old and has a 4-3 record in his last 7 fights. Kovalev is NOT considered the best champion at 175 or even the second best. The best is IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev followed by WBA champ Dmitry Bivol. Kovalev is viewed as being behind those guys as well as Oleksandr Gvozdyk. So why would Canelo need a rehydration clause to fight the #4 best light heavyweight?
Ryan Garcia vs Romero Duno – weights
Unbeaten lightweight contender Ryan Garcia (18-0, 15 KOs) weighed in at 135 lbs for his fight against Romero Duno (21-1, 16 KOs). The hard hitting Filipino slugger Duno weighed in at 135 lbs as Duno. Garcia vs. Duno fight is the chief support on the Canelo vs. Kovalev card. Golden Boy Promotions are banking on Ryan turning into their next mega-star. Right now, the young 21-year-old Garcia is trailing Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez and Gervonta Davis in the talent department, and accomplishments.
Other weights:
Seniesa Estrada 110.5 vs. Marlen Esparza 111
Blair Cobbs 147 vs. Carlos Ortiz 146
Evan Holyfield 154 vs Nick Winstead 156
Bakhram Murtazaliev 154 vs Jorge Fortea 153.5
Tristan Kalkreuth 188 vs Twon Smith 188.5
Meiirim Nursultanov 160 vs Cristian Olivas 160
Bekertim Melikuziev 175 vs Clay Collard 171
Virgil Hunter: Canelo picking Kovalev at the right time
“If there was ever a time for Canelo to pick a fight against Kovalev, the time is right with him coming off a fight with Yarde,” said trainer Virgil Hunter to Fighthub in discussing the Canelo-Kovalev fight. “It was a pretty tough fight, and not enough time to recuperate, regroup, and go right back into camp and have to take weight right back off with a short camp. Strategically it was a great move,” said Hunter.
Like a lot of people, trainer Virgil Hunter believes that Canelo and his training team picked Kovalev at the right time in order to increase their chances of winning the fight. Kovalev isn’t hitting as hard as he used to be, and he’s lost a lot in the stamina due to his advanced age. It’s what you’d expect from a fighter that is in mid-30s. Canelo would have the same problems if he sticks around until he’s 36, and tries to fight championship level guys.
Krusher Kovalev losing almost as much as he’s winning
Kovalev was almost knocked out in his last fight by novice Anthony Yarde, and he’s had problems before that against Andre Ward and Eleider Alvarez. Canelo isn’t as big as those guys, and it’s debatable whether he could beat any of them. It’s still not a good sign that Kovalev is losing almost as much as he’s winning at this point in his career. That right there tells you that Canelo has hand-picked Kovalev at the right moment, but it’s not like he hasn’t done that before.
Last year, Canelo chose to fight secondary WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding for his 168 lb title. Canelo could have picked the WBA 168-lb champion with the real belt in Callum Smith, but he picked Fielding instead. That tells you that Canelo is being crafty in selecting his opponents, and he’s not being the fearless guy that is willing to fight the best in each division.
Canelo will need to use his feet to get to Kovalev
“Right now you have to give Canelo the advantage, but Buddy Mcgirt is a plus for Kovalev,” said Hunter. “I think boxing-wise, he’s very formidable, and Canelo is going to have to get by his lead hand, and Golovkin’s lead hand gave him a lot of problems. Kovalev’s lead hand is a step up or two from Golovkin’s lead hand. He reacts well with it, he leads well with it, and he defends well with it. And he still has his in and out legs. Canelo, he only takes one step to you when he attacks. He doesn’t take that second and third steps.
“That could be crucial in fighting Kovalev. You need more than that one step, because he is quick enough and rangy enough to get out of the way of your first stage of attack. Canelo is pretty much a counter puncher. So if he’s going to have to go in Kovalev’s favor. In order for Canelo to be effective in going to Kovalev’s body, Kovalev is going to have to go to him, and he’s going to have to step to him at the same time Kovalev is coming to him. But if he let’s Kovalev fight at range and Kovalev has the endurance and in good condition to go 12 rounds, it could be an interesting fight,” said Hunter.
Movement gives Canelo problems
Canelo doesn’t move well, and never has. He’s a counter puncher, who sits and waits for his opponents to throw a punch before he fires back. It works well for Canelo when he’s fighting aggressive power punchers like Gennadiy Golovkin, but it doesn’t work when he’s facing jabbers like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Erislandy Lara.
Canelo arguably lost both of those fights, but officially, only Mayweather was given a win over him. If Kovalev focuses on throwing jabs, and moving away from the slow-footed Canelo all night, he can beat him.
Hunter says Kovalev could dominate Canelo with McGirt’s help
“Right now because the factors involved favor Canelo in the fight,” said Hunter. “I favor him to get his point across probably more, but Buddy is going to come up with a great plan, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kovalev dominate the fight. Can he get to the body, that’s the question? If you look at the physical attributes, it’s going to be hard work. Canelo sometimes doesn’t show the greatest stamina in fights.
“So is he going to have to work twice as hard to get to the body, and plus going through his jab. Kovalev has a pure boxer for a trainer, who knows how to focus in and knows how to motivate him, there’s a lot of things that you have to consider. Kovalev would have to have physical let downs stamina-wise, reaction-wise, and the last fight lingering on him.
“The draining affects of trying to make weight again, and trying to come right back around at his age. I think all that plays in Canelo’s favor. If he can take advantage of those factors, then he should come out victorious. But if he can’t, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kovalev dominate the fight.
Kovalev will need to be disciplined for him to beat Canelo on Saturday. He’ll need to follow McGirt’s instructions to the letter to get the victory, because if it’s close, Canelo will win. Even if it’s not close, Canelo can still win. Hunter mentions Kovalev possibly dominating Canelo. Well, he might need to do that to have a shot at winning a decision.
Canelo will need to take a shot from Kovalev to land one
“Canelo is going to have to concede a punch in order to get to Kovalev,” said Hunter. “When we [Andre Ward] fought him, we had to figure what punch, because we had predicted we were going to knock him out. Before the fight, we said we were going to stop him. But in order to stop him, we’re going to have to concede a punch. So which punch? We’ve going to concede a jab.
“In other words, we’re going to give it to him, but we’re going to follow it back. But does Canelo have the quickness of feet that Andre has [had] to slip in to follow the jab to beat Kovalev back to position? That’s the question? Does he have that first and second quick step in order to slip in and slip low. He’s not a slip in fighter. He’s a step in fighter. So if he can’t do that, he’s going to have problems with that jab, and that jab is the A-factor in that fight. Can he deal with the jab, and take the jab away? And can he follow the jab back, and take the jab away from Kovalev?” said Hunter.
Canelo probably knows that he’s going to need to take shots from Kovalev in order for him to land his body punches. It’s going to be hard for the short-legged Canelo to get to Kovalev if he moves around the ring for 12 rounds. It’s going to take great stamina for Kovalev to stay mobile for the entire fight, but it’s possible.
Andre Ward would “manhandle” Canelo says Hunter
“Andre [Ward] is set for life, and has a great broadcasting career,” said Hunter. “I don’t know what it would take for him to consider it [coming out of retirement]. It would take a considerable amount of money. Certainly more than $10 million, I think it would take place. I would want him to take a couple of fights before that fight. So that leaves your broadcasting career on the table, and that leaves it open for someone else to come in. That’s his second career. He’s around the fight game, he’s ringside, and he’s set for life. So he left a lot of money on the table. The money is always going to be there, so when is enough enough.
“I have Andre all the way,” said Hunter when asked how a fight between Ward and Canelo plays out. He brings a lot of factors to the fight. He can fight inside with Canelo. And he can manhandle him, because he’s extremely strong. And his IQ. This would be the first time that Canelo fought someone with an IQ like Andre. But at the same time, I would like to have a couple of tune-up fights before we took the fight to make it right. We’re not going to just jump into something because it’s there. I don’t see it happening,” said Hunter.
Andre Ward has been out of the game for too long for him to beat Canelo or any of the top light heavyweights. Hunter is kidding himself in thinking Ward manhandles Canelo. Ward looked like a shot fighter in both of his last two fights against Kovalev. The hand speed and wheels were gone with Ward, and the only thing he could do is wrestle on the inside.
