We all hope, I do too. However, I've seen this movie before so many times where a beloved champion who loses their belt gets a rematch and gets the same result, the only difference is over a year is wasted in the division.
To me it looked like Ank had many ways to win, but Alex just has one with boxing. I don't think he can rely on leg kicks to weaken to take over later. Alex had Aldo syndrome where he could defend TDs, but not get any offense off in between. Cardio wise, I'd even say Ank might be better there. Ank had speed over him and stayed defensively patient compared to Jiri/Hill/Rountree on the feet.
Only question is if his hands were so damaged he couldn't throw at all. I'm a little skeptical, because for the 1st Ank fight he had more rest than all his previous defenses and the same amount as this fight. So perhaps he hurt his hand leading up in training, but he had all the time to do it right, which he gets one more time. I'd love to be wrong, again. Ankalaev can be very boring and doesn't take risks.
