Canelo Álvarez landed a left-right late in the 11th round Saturday night, knocking Sergey Kovalev to the canvas and ending their light heavyweight title fight. Kovalev was left on his knees completely losing conscious as he was knocked out early in the 11th round.
It was a dramatic finish for a fight that had little action until the knockout round. Kovalev was more than holding his own late in the night and hadn’t been hurt when Álvarez landed the left followed by a right.
The great Mexican, who moved up two weight classes, won his fourth title in as many weights. He celebrated by kissing the glove on his right hand as Kovalev’s handlers jumped into the ring to check on the Russin.
Both fighters fought cautiously for the most part, with Kovalev content to use his jab from long distance and Álvarez looking to land hooks to the body. The crowd at the MGM Grand booed on several occasions, unhappy with the lack of action.
Álvarez was a 4-1 favourite despite moving up two weight classes to fight for a piece of Kovalev’s 175lbs title. He took the fight against Kovalev rather than a third fight with Gennady Golovkin as part of a $365m deal he signed with the streaming service DAZN.
Fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena watched the UFC main event on big screens in the arena
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