Even Las Vegas, spoiled by bright fighting events, could not remain indifferent to this boxing match. The charismatic Russian athlete, who mercilessly beat his opponents, was opposed by the Mexican nugget, who collected titles in various categories.

Saul Alvarez was inferior to Sergey Kovalev in size, but superior in everything else. Canelo did not bring the case to a judge’s verdict and pocketed another belt, sending the opponent to a knockout.

The exhausted Kovalev had no chance of winning.

Difficult conditions

For Sergey Kovalev, 2019 turned out to be full of superfights. In February, the Russian regained the WBO light heavyweight title, completing a rematch against Eleider Alvarez with a victory. In August, the 36-year-old boxer faced another difficult confrontation – title defense. The ambitious Briton Anthony Yard came to Chelyabinsk, who had to return home without the coveted belt. The exhausting fight for the Russian ended only in the 11th round.

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Kovalev didn’t have time to rest on his laurels – in November he was waiting for a fight with Saul Alvarez, who, jumping between categories, collected all kinds of champion titles. With a good middleweight haul, Canelo set his sights on winning the light heavyweight division. Sergey almost immediately after a difficult defense began a training camp, which became a serious test for his middle-aged body.

But it was not so bad, the Russians were given difficult conditions before the fight – after the official weigh-in, he did not have the right to gain more than five pounds. In other words, after an exhausting weight race, the opportunities for a full-fledged recovery of an athlete were limited.

Sergei almost failed the weigh-in – he failed to show the necessary numbers, and the complete disposal of clothes did not help either. However, in a few minutes, Crusher brought his weight to the desired level, the WBO did not cancel the fight.

Turn off the Crusher

Probably, in a different situation, the current champion could more boldly dictate his terms, but Alvarez’s team was the organizer of the fight. Moreover, a substantial fee was at stake, and therefore Kovalev had to put up with imposed offers. The Russian, even without additional tricks from the 29-year-old opponent, was not a favorite, and in the current situation, Sergei had to rely only on a miracle and an armor-piercing strike.

From the very beginning of the battle, Kovalev actively introduced the Mexican to his signature jab, although there was no need to talk about causing serious damage. Canelo masterfully closed, not allowing Sergey’s punches to reach the goal. Having familiarized himself with the capabilities of the enemy, the Mexican picked up the pace, working on the body. Alvarez’s blows were more accurate, but for the time being it was too early to talk about any significant advantage of the applicant.

With each round, Canelo looked more and more confident – Kovalev’s jab from a smoothly working weapon in other fights turned into something predictable and almost harmless. The situation changed somewhat in the ninth round, when it turned out that Crusher was not only still on his feet, but at the same time he could attack dangerously.

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Alvarez’s corner realized that so far there was no smell of a guaranteed victory, and the Mexican had to step up again. The fight on a collision course delighted the audience, boxing fans were waiting for the decisive blow that was supposed to end everything. Alas, this blow was not delivered by a Russian. The younger Canelo waited for the oversight of the exhausted Kovalev and turned off Crusher, sending him to the ropes.

New challenge

After the fight, an upset Kovalev in his hearts posted a video on social networks in which he complained about the impossibility of winning in such conditions. The Crusher wondered how he managed to survive until the penultimate round, given that his strength ran out after the seventh.

– It was impossible to win this fight, to come in the right form in which you can defeat this boar. Who believed in all this, who bet the money, greed played a cruel joke on you. I can safely say that you are laymen in this sport, since you thought that I could win. I didn’t have any weight. I climbed into this weight category through agony and sleepless nights. Of course, because it was a financially interesting proposal, ”Kovalev confessed.

One way or another, Sergei survived an unfortunate defeat. After a two-year absence from the ring, he still found a new challenge in his career. 39-year-old Crusher will make his debut in the first heavyweight, where Bulgarian Tervel Pulev is waiting for him. As for Alvarez, he abandoned the won title and returned to the super middleweight, where he won several victories over not the most stellar opponents. Now Canelo is preparing for a championship fight against another Russian, Dmitry Bivol. He is again the favorite, but Dmitry is not eager to spoil the perfect record of 16 wins in 16 fights. We’ll see who’s who on May 7th.