F--- boxing

this fight

christ

 

If you have the chance to see this fight anywhere - any streaming service or DAZN replay - do so.

Fight of the year.

 

Here is the rationale one person gave me for it being a fix

 

oy

 

Oh boy. Where do we start.

Yes, Canelo got a gift draw in the first fight against GGG and a close decision that probably could've went either way in the second fight. Absolutely. And yes he's gotten gift cards. He got a ridiculous 114-114 card against Mayweather from C.J. Ross, who was forced into retirement after that fight. He got a sham of of 118-110 card in the first fight against Golokvin from Adalaide Byrd and unfortunately she continues to put out shit scorecards, but she's basically been blacklisted from Canelo fights.

Yes, I along with Az think Canelo is a dirty, protected fighter. He's tested dirty once and I have little doubt he takes shortcuts.

Kovalev is an old fighter that's 4-4 in his last eight with three of them ending on knockouts. From the Ward fights on we knew he had a suspect chin and a very weak mid-section and questionable gas tank. He was knocked out cold by Eleider Alvarez, who is one of the lighter punching 175s out there. And in his last fight with Anthony Yarde, he was hurt badly and I believe concussed in the middle rounds of that fight but he held on because Yarde doesn't train well and ran out of gas after 8th round. Kovalev is not a strong fighter, he hit hard in his heyday, but as Andre Ward said during the Yarde fight, he was surprised that Kovalev wasn't physically strong and that he was able to move him around in their fights.

Canelo, who is very big at 160 and quite large at 168 for that matter, is probably a light heavyweight in reality. He's a little short, but he's more than strong enough and big enough to knock out an old fighter with a shaky chin.

If he fights Artur Beterbiev, which he will not, he's not going to have those physical advantages because Beterbiev is an absolute monster. If he fights Callum Smith at 168, which he will not, he won't have those advantages because Smith is big and strong.

There are a lot of criticisms of Canelo that are very valid. He's super protected. I believe his training is questionable. He does a lot of fuckery with weight limits. And he likes to pick opponents that have optical appeal, but are clearly ripe for the pickings. All that being said this fight wasn't fixed or anything close.

 

if thine clenbuterol testing protocols offend thee, pluck it out

WBC has new rules for banned drug clenbuterol

 

Caught up with it on YouTube last night, tremendous fight, just riveting stuff. Was there even a clinch over 12 rounds?

 

Toward the end - the 12th, maybe - Inoue picked Donaire up and moved him back a few feet. Mostly because they were off balance, but that's the closest thing to a clinch.

 

I just finished watching it. Excellent.

Inoue tried to grab on to Donaire after Donaire rocked him in the ninth (I think it was the ninth) but Donaire pushed him away.

 

Deontay Wilder blah, blah, blah.

Big right hand blah, blah, blah.

KOs Ortiz blah blah blah.

Wilder. The least compelling heavyweight champion in history?

 

Hardly covered himself in glory last night, he had lost every second of that fight until he landed that right hand. Very tentative, never let his hands go, let Ortiz dictate the pace, he very cleverly cut the distance between himself and Wilder , flicked out his jab to bother Wilder and set up his straight left. Wilder seemed very uncomfortable and unable or unwilling to use his jab to get some distance to set up his right hand. And when he finally did it, it bought him enough room for that bomb.

 

Also, Ortiz is 137 years old.