Leva surely ... only lost once in his last 20 fights to the very good Sergey Guliakevich ... We all know what he did to Lawton and Johanson twice ... think Foster could be in trouble and I expect to see a KO before the 6th in favour of Leva ...
I am thinking Leva by stoppage as well but haven't seen Foster more than once or twice to make a proper prediction .
I think Foster Jr. has to force himself into believing he can weather the storm for the first 5 rounds, then he might have a shot as Kirkosyan fades. the deck is very much stacked against him though. I would like to see him clinch and try and smother, he doesn't have the defence to get the job done IMO.
i think foster jr will weather the early storm and make it a good fight - at the very least. kirakosyan just seemed to have johanesson's number. the power on johanesson's chin. the timing and the punch picking which totally negated johanesson. kirakosyan just knew when and where to hit the leeds fighter. and lawton, a vulnerable lightweight, really had no business melting down to 130, other than to secure hatton a european title fight and the TV date that came with it. we've seen foster jr stand up pretty well to the much bigger alex arthur. my biggest problem - where has foster been since then? how has he looked in fights and in training?
Since the Arthur fight Steve has rarely been out of the gym, he's trained for many fights which have fallen through. He's much stronger, fitter and has more self belief than when he fought Arthur. The camp has gone brilliantly, he's had some great sparring and is really up for this, should be a great fight...it all depends on how Steve reacts when this guy lands, if he can take this guys power then Steve will win very impressively.
i don,t think fosters problems will happen early, i think he outboxes l.k. but the last third of the fight could be very sticky for him. l.k. is the perfect away fighter, as if he doesen't get the stoppage, he excepts defeat, ie will apply pateint pressure to acheive his goal, and will still be strong late in the fight, s.v. wins first 6rnds, gets floored in 9th, wins 10th, gets floored in 11th, loses 12 badly but stays erect, and the final word is a draw, good fight though, very dramatic for the veiwers.
As like with most fights when your in with a banger it's about getting past the early rounds and gaining belief. Stephens not really been doing a great deal recently but he will have to produce a performance like his fight against Alex Arthur. I think he has a chance but he must negotiate the early rounds with a wise head...even to the point of being negative and settling into the fight. Doesn't have to win the rounds just get a feel for the fight and go from there.
I've got a feeling Foster might do it . He needs to survive the early rounds and hopefully at 37 the armenian will run out of steam . That said i've not seen much of either fighter just Foster against Arthur where Foster really came on strong in the last couple of rounds although Arthur was dead at the weight and Kirakosyan vs Lawton which was always going to be a bit of one sided beating . By the way what is it with these big punching armenians, Kirakosyan , AA and Darchinyan ?