Date | November 2, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Title(s) on the line | WBO light heavyweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Álvarez wins via 11th-round KO |
Canelo Álvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev was a professional boxing match between Canelo Álvarez and defending WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada on November 2, 2019. Álvarez won by 11th-round knockout.
Álvarez made his debut at light heavyweight and was looking to become a three-weight world champion [*] by challenging WBO titleholder Kovalev, who was defending his title after having fought two months prior on August 24, 2019. Kovalev was stopped for just the third time in his career when Álvarez knocked him out in the 11th round.
Weight class | vs. | Type | Round | Time | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Light heavyweight | Canelo Álvarez | def. | Sergey Kovalev (c) | KO | 11/12 | 2:15 | Note 1 |
Lightweight | Ryan Garcia | def. | Romero Duno | KO | 1/12 | Note 2 | |
Super welterweight | Bakhram Murtazaliev | def. | Jorge Fortea | UD | 12/12 | ||
Flyweight | Seniesa Estrada | def. | Marlen Esparza | TD | 9/10 | Note 3 | |
Welterweight | Blair Cobbs | def. | Carlos Ortiz | RTD | 6/10 | Note 4 | |
Middleweight | Meirim Nursultanov | def. | Cristian Olivas | UD | 10/10 | ||
Light heavyweight | Bektemir Melikuziev | def. | Clay Collard | TKO | 4/8 | 1:11 | |
Super welterweight | Evan Holyfield | def. | Nick Winstead | KO | 1/4 | 0:16 | Note 5 |
Super welterweight | Tristan Kalkreuth | def. | Twon Smith | UD | 4/4 |
^Note 1 For WBO light heavyweight title
^Note 2 For vacant WBC Silver lightweight title
^Note 3 For WBA female flyweight title
^Note 4 For vacant WBC- NABF welterweight title
^Note 5 Holyfield's professional debut
Immediately after the bout, many fight fans started asking Kovalev on social media about why he allegedly took a dive. The former champion answered via several videos on his Instagram page,: [1]
"It was impossible for me to win that fight because of all the demands and contract clauses I have signed, and my physical conditioning problems. But financially it was very interesting for me... so, yeah, I accepted the fight I was not supposed to win." [2]
Álvarez responded by calling Kovalev a "bad loser". [3]
The fight was streamed live on DAZN in the United States and nine other countries, televised on both FTA Azteca 7 in Mexico and Channel One in Russia. [4] [5]
According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Álvarez earned an official purse of $35 million and Kovalev a $3 million purse. These figures are the final figures they will earn as Canelo has a subscription deal which means no potential PPV revenue. [22]
Guaranteed base purses