Pascal won like 2 rounds against Bivol. That's not struggling. He is not that type of fighter. But you are correct in that Bivol has to avoid getting hit flush.
Just comparing fights which is not always an indicator to an outcome. But, Sergey had no problems what so ever with Pascal. I'd say we can both agree that Sergey performed way better against Pascal than Bivol. But, styles make fights. Who knows i'd like to see the match up!
I would like Bivol to win. But I have to admit that I expected Bivol to progress faster, and he has not. I dont know exactly why, because his talent is out of question.
Right now I would favor Bivol by UD. Prime Kovalev beats this Bivol, but I think Bivol is not yet at his best. Both exceptional fighters.
Would love to see this fight but with Kovalev if I pick him to win he will lose,if I pick him to lose he will win
Smith couldn't use his physical advantages against Bivol because he hasn't had the schooling, his jab looked awkward and he was lunging around throwing hayemakers. The fact his arms were so much longer than Bivol but couldn't win the jab battle says a lot. Even still he seemed to hurt a very sharp Bivol at least twice. Smith is a wasted talent in a way, if he'd grown up in Eastern Europe could have been a champ. But Kovalev is very schooled, very sharp and he not only has more reach than Bivol but can use that reach with raking and powerful jabs and straights. He also has better footwork and speed than Smith, and sets up his shots far better. I don't think people realise how quick Kovalev actually is, consider he didn't look slow against Ward. You would think if Smith can catch and hurt Bivol a few times, a faster and more accurate Kovalev should be able to do even more damage. So if Bivol beats Kovalev it would be pretty impressive.
It wasn't his night, because Kovalev wouldn't let it be his night. Because he actually took the match seriously the second time around. Yes, fighters don't always take every opponent as seriously they should and that was a great example of it. Nine out of 10 times that version of Kovalev beats Alvarez.
