Canelo, Kovalev, and What Lies Ahead

On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) defeated former two-time world champion Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs) via TKO (technical knockout) to win Kovalev’s WBO world light heavyweight title. There was a time, not long ago, when the prospect of the smaller Canelo fighting much less stopping the "boogeyman" Kovalev would have seemed absurd.

That’s boxing.

The victory was an impressive one and makes Canelo a four-division world champion…sort of. He’s won legitimate world titles at junior middleweight (154 pounds), middleweight (160 pounds), and now at light heavyweight (175 pounds). At super middleweight (168 pounds), Alvarez fought Rocky Fielding for the WBA "world" super middleweight title; the problem there is that the WBA is notorious for designating more than one world champion at each weight class. Callum Smith is the WBA "super" world champion, which is the term the WBA gives to its true world champion in a division. Fielding held their regular "world" title, which is not acknowledged by experts as the true world title.

How can there be two "world" champions in the same division and within the same
sanctioning body?

Let’s call it what it is. Having multiple world champions in a division is a blatant cash grab by the WBA. It simply enables them to rake in more sanctioning fees from the belted fighters.

That aside, Canelo has proven himself as one of the
best fighters in the world. He has a truly impressive resume, having a single
loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. (nothing to be ashamed of there), and sporting
victories over the likes of Miguel Cotto, Erislandy Lara, Gennadiy Golovkin,
Austin Trout, and Amir Khan. He’s
only 29 years old and has accomplished more than many older fighters are able
to. Most impressive of all is the fact that his skills have continued to
improve throughout his 20s, a truly rare feat in combat sports. For example, when
Canelo fought Mayweather in 2013, part of his difficulty was his relatively
poor footwork. He was usually unable to bring his feet with him when he threw
punches, which resulted in him being off balance and/or open for swift counters
thrown from tricky angles, which were specialties of Mayweather’s. When Alvarez
faced Lara a year later, Canelo’s feet were noticeably better; and when he
fought Golovkin the first time in 2017, Alvarez’s footwork was fluid, athletic,
and threw Golovkin for a loop in the early rounds.

Defeating a career light heavy like Kovalev is a
tremendous accomplishment for Canelo. Some naysayers have focused on the fact
that Kovalev isn’t the
same fearsome fighter he once was; but the truth is he still had something left
in the tank, and his exceptional boxing skills were still there coming into
this bout. Perhaps Kovalev’s best asset has always been his timing, which he
again used to good effect in his last fight against Anthony Yarde. Kovalev
timed him and caught Yarde with a power jab that stopped the younger man who
was making the bout a tough one. Kovalev was by no means washed up.

It was a calculated risk by Canelo. He didn’t move up to 175 and fight the
formidable Artur Beterbiev, who has well-rounded boxing skills combined with
the ability to hit like a mule. Kovalev had lost a step since his stoppage
losses to Andre Ward and Eleider Alvarez, and it was enough to balance out the
disadvantages Canelo had as the smaller, shorter man coming up 15 pounds. It
was a similar calculated risk that the great Roy Jones Jr. took when he moved
up two weight classes—from light heavyweight to heavyweight—and fought John
Ruiz. Jones didn’t select Lennox Lewis or Wladimir Klitschko as his first
opponent at heavyweight. There was a reason for that.

The DAZN suits decided to put the main event on an
embarrassingly long hold as they decided to wait for the UFC Diaz vs. Masvidal
card to finish. During the DAZN broadcast, the truly unfortunate comparison was
made between Canelo and all-time great Henry Armstrong. Armstrong was the first
and only boxer to ever hold three world titles from three separate divisions at
the same time. He accomplished the feat in 1938—within a 10-month period—when
the sport had only a single world champion in each division. Add to that the
fact that back then, there were only eight weight classes, compared to today’s 17.

The powers-that-be decided they couldn’t let the opportunity to try to
compare Alvarez to a legend like Armstrong. It’s understandable but was an
incredibly disrespectful move towards Armstrong and the sport as a whole.
Canelo has accomplished some great things, but let’s not try to compare holding
a "world" title in name only (his 168-pound WBA belt) and holding a single
world title in the modern era where there are four different belts to capture
to the incredible feats Armstrong accomplished. It’s clear Golden Boy or DAZN
or whoever’s decision it was to make the comparison thinks that we don’t know
our boxing history (or are easily duped).

In Saturday’s fight, Kovalev was content to simply touch Alvarez with
jabs and occasional hooks, and more rare power hands, working to keep Canelo at
bay. Canelo landed a periodic clean shot, but by and large seemed to be biding
his time, waiting for Kovalev to tire (as he typically does when pressured by
his opponent) to take him out. Smartly, Canelo kept his guard tight and backed
Kovalev up throughout the match, knowing the bigger man wouldn’t have the
ability to put much power on his punches when moving backward.

Canelo seemed to have a fire under him in the 11th
and final round, and when he landed a short overhand right upstairs, Kovalev’s legs wobbled just a bit. Canelo
saw it too. He came in and caught Kovalev with a hook that made Kovalev’s legs
buckle worse, leaving the Russian fighter wide open upstairs. Canelo took
advantage and followed it up with a powerful right hand to Kovalev’s chin that
sent him to—and almost through—the ropes. Kovalev was done.

To his credit, Canelo immediately gestured downward
with both gloves to the crowd, asking them to keep the noise down until we knew
whether Kovalev was okay.

It seems to be the end of the line for Sergey
Kovalev. He hasn’t been
the "Krusher" since Andre Ward dismantled him in 2017. But he still had enough
left and his boxing skills were such that he could win a world title again and
beat some good opposition. Now that he’s been stopped two more times, once by a
middleweight in Alvarez, Kovalev doesn’t really have anywhere to go. He’s 36
years old and no one wants to see the man get hurt beyond repair, which is what
would happen at this stage if he were to continue trying to fight at the top
level.

For Canelo, his options are wide open.

"[After
this] the plan was to go down to 160, 165 but why not—maybe 175 again," Canelo
said via translator after the fight.

If Alvarez chooses to stay at 175, though, he’ll have to be very selective about who he fights—and even then, I wouldn’t want him to stay at light heavyweight for long. To make even more history, he could attempt to fight for another world title at the weight. He would have a shot to beat Dmitry Bivol, the WBA world light heavyweight champion (yes, he has somehow managed to be the legitimate—and only—world titleholder at 175 in the WBA). But Artur Beterbiev, the unified IBF/WBC champ, is a whole different story. Canelo should steer clear of the man known as "The Beast." Beterbiev is a good example of a fighter one should never face when moving up in weight. He is way too good, way too big, and way too much of a dog.

Should Alvarez move back down to middleweight, I
couldn’t care
less about a third fight with Golovkin. They already fought twice, with Alvarez
winning a clear victory the second time, and we all know how a third bout would
play out. I’d much rather see Canelo face the other world champions in the
division: Jermall Charlo or Demetrius Andrade. They would both be serious
challenges for Alvarez.

At super middleweight, there are also interesting fights to be made. Callum Smith, the WBA champ, is a skillful boxer and IBF titleholder Caleb Plant is an exceptional talent. David Benavidez, the WBC world champion, is the easiest fight for Canelo, who I would expect to outwork and out-maneuver Benavidez for a clear win.

Being the "money guy" in boxing, Canelo has his pick of what to do
next and who to fight. Anyone in the sport would be happy to get the call to
fight Alvarez.

For Kovalev, let’s hope he takes his significant purse from the Canelo fight
and rides off into the sunset.