*** The Upset Special: Put Your Money On Shabransky to Stop Kovalev! ***

Shabranskyy can punch and he's no slouch. He's hurt or dropped everyone he's fought in the fights of his I've seen (which is probably about 12 or 13) and he stopped all but 2 in the rest of the ones I haven't. He got off to a terrible start against Barrera. However, he battled back to drop him in round 2 and he was still fighting as hard as he could right up until it was waved off despite the fact he'd taken a ton of punishment and got caught clean with a lot of flush bombs from Barrera. His biggest problem in that fight was he was way too easy to hit with big right hands, which unless he's tightened up the holes in his defence doesn't bode well for his chances against someone who wields the kind of power Kovalev does. I expect Kovalev will be too classy and hit too hard for him and will knock him out before the half way mark (assuming he's still the same Sergey as before) but Shabranskyy is a dangerous customer and he'll be throwing hard for as long as he's still standing and he'll give it his all.

'Dmitry Bivol is very familiar with Vyacheslav Shabranskyy.

They sparred numerous rounds against each other recently in preparation for Bivol’s victory over Trent Broadhurst on November 4 in Monte Carlo and Shabranskyy’s fight against Sergey Kovalev on Saturday night in New York. Bivol respects Shabranskyy’s strength and toughness, but he expects Kovalev to win their scheduled 12-round fight for the unclaimed WBO light heavyweight title in The Theater at Madison Square Garden (HBO).

“It will be interesting to see this fight because it’s his comeback,” Bivol told Sky Sports. “I don’t know him personally, but he is one of the best and strongest fighters, so I want to fight him at some stage. He is the best.

Kyrgyzstan’s Bivol (12-0, 10 KOs) doesn’t think Kovalev will be a lesser fighter in his return from an eighth-round, technical-knockout defeat to Andre Ward in his last fight, June 17 in Las Vegas.

“I don’t think Kovalev will change much,” Bivol said, “and because of the type of fighter he is, and the skills he’s got, it will be enough for him to win on Saturday night.”

Bivol, the WBA light heavyweight champion, does expect Shabranskyy (19-1, 16 KOs) to give Russia’s Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) some trouble, despite that Kovalev is listed as a 14-1 favorite in their HBO “World Championship Boxing” main event.

“We’ve sparred a number of times, and he’s a good guy and a great character,” said Bivol, who knocked out Australia’s Broadhurst in the first round. “One thing I can tell you is, he won’t give up. He will definitely make this a great fight.

“I would say his height is one of his biggest advantages [6-feet-3½]. He’s pretty strong and his punches are pretty hard when they land and, as I say, he has a lot of character. There are boxers and then there are fighters, and he’s a fighter.”

David Benavidez says Shabranskyy hits like a CW

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