Spectacular finish by Canelo in a fight I thought he was losing as well (same score as you).
I thought Kovalev had an overly conservative game plan that he/Buddy McGirt (trainer) never deviated from - ramrod jab, keep Alvarez at a distance, don’t let Canelo set/throw more than one punch at a time, pile up points, make Alvarez fight from behind and reach and take chances. And it worked (for the most part) until Kovalev ran out of gas late and got hurt to the body. And Alvarez efficiently finished him. That is what great fighters do - close when the opportunity is there.
I thought Alvarez’s strategy was interesting. And almost cost him the fight (would have if Kovalev wasn’t gassed). Canelo played it ”cute;” - Stayed outside the pocket, took few opportunities to press Kovalev, tried to counter/work the body by jumping in and out of range. Like Kovalev, he did not deviate either. And was getting outworked (at least from a volume of punches perspective). Risky, But it succeeded in the end. Staying out of the pocket saved Canelo from absorbing Krusher’s heavy hands when most dangerous (before Round 6). I think that was Alvarez’s primary objective - make the older, shopworn Kovalev expend allot of energy early, take him deep, break him to the body and take him out. I thought Kovalev was “out of Schlitz” after expending allot of energy in Rd 10. Played out like Ward/Kovalev 2, except later in the fight and Canelo is a more sensational finisher (than Ward).
Both strategies were beneficial to the opponent, however. Alvarez’s assumptions turned out to be correct (Kovalev would gas over a long fight and had weak ribs) and he got the KO. Kovalev’s game plan played right into it (jab Canelo, control distance, look to counter a much faster and superior counter puncher). I thought Buddy should have taken a chance and pursued the bigger man strategy - tell Krusher to tear into Alvarez early. Try to overpower and blast him out. IMO, Kovalev’s best chance - force Canelo to take your punches. But then again, maybe McGirt already knew what I observed during the fight - Canelo (though smaller) was the stronger and sturdier guy from the get-go...
All credit To Canelo, though. He beat the good big man with a spectacular finish... it will be interesting to see what he and Oscar do next. I think Berterbiev and Bivol (Lt Heavies) are too big and powerful (high risk, low reward) and GGG may be done. Andrade and Saunders are both quality, but not crowd pleasers. With Spence (Welter) on the sidelines, it is hard to see where his next “Mega-Media” interest fight will come from.
