It's proved to be good up till now. Granted Clen had some serious roid power since he got popped for PEDs and his body transformed into Hulknelo and from an average puncher to a bone breaking one. But one thing you won't hear about is Bivol's defensive prowess. He doesn't get hit much. People will lavish praise all night on the likes of Clenelo and Shakur for their defence, and they're good and I give them credit for their skills, but when it comes to plus minus numbers statistically Bivol even actually ranks above the likes of Loma, granted that has a lot to do with Loma fighting giants all the time at 135 who hold huge physical advantages over him (much more than Clen is giving away up at 175) - if he was still down at 130 or 126 he would still be the top dog and he's still one of them despite that, and Bivol also ranks above both Clenelo and Shakur too. Bivol is also number 2 behind GGG in terms of Jabs landed too and ranked first above Boo Boo and Fury for fewest punches landed on him in a round. Why don't we ever hear people talking about Bivol as one of the best defensive fighters in the sport too. Why is that? Bivol is up against it tonight because he's fighting Clenelo, Clen's judge's, the establishment, both the boxing establishment and The System, tonight and he's never fought on a stage of this magnitude before and that comes with a lot of pressure and can drain your energy reserves and he also knows he has to take more risks because the chances of him getting robbed are extremely high which obviously leave him more vulnerable to getting clipped.
I would say most pro fighters have a good chin until they suffer KO. Bivol has never suffered a KO or knockdown and is capable to absorb good shots to the head, I believe. I would be more interest in knowing if he can be stopped by a body shot.
Didn’t get to see the Bivol vs Joe smith fight. So not sure how many bombs Smith landed if he landed at all. but I’d imagine if Bivol can take a shot from Joe Smith, he should be able to handle Canelo’s.
The problem is also that is Smith can land on Bivol than Canelo will for sure, and he places his shots better and will land more of them. Bivol has to use his fast jab and counter left and keep this a simple fight with his jab... if he strays then Canelo can win. Bivols reach is not that great.
I'm not cheering for either one (or I'm cheering for both, is another way to put it), but I think Bivol will be a very big test for Canelo. He will be bigger and stronger than the Mexican, and his basics are as good as Canelo's. He's up against the judges, the fans, and the moneyman. I think Bivol will win between six and eight rounds, but Canelo will get the W. I think Bivol needs nine fairly clear rounds to get the decision.
