Reconsider this match up. Bivol vs prime Kovalev, Hopkins and Ward

I think Bivol beats Hopkins and Kovalev but not Ward

 

I think all 3 of these are interesting for different reasons:-

• Hopkins was the master at making you fight his fight at his tempo.
• Ward was highly intelligent, great at identifying and exploiting any flaw or weakness he could see
• Prime Kov was a beast, with an incredible ramrob jab, and power to spare.

That said, here are some counter arguments

• Hopkins, if he could not disrupt Bivol's rythym what does he have left? Bivol would fight at too high a tempo, and his defence is too good
• Ward's biggest strengths were his physical strength, inside game & IQ; could he get Bivol away from range and into an inside war; if Beterbiev struggled to do it, then I think Ward would have issues also
• Kovalev - what was his elite wins? Ward was the first elite he really faced up against - and though he was robbed IMO, the veneer of bogeyman was dispelled in that fight I think.

i'd be interested what the gameplans for these 3 would be against Bivol to offset his stellar defence, distance management and timing.

I think Ward probably has the most dimensions to his game to be the one with the best shot

 

Always felt he’d struggle with Kovalev stylistically.

That jab of Kovalev is gonna make it hard to outbox him, and is he gonna be able to get inside and do enough damage?

Kovalev is able to keep him honest and outjab him, and Bivol doesn’t have the firepower to do damage to Kovalev.

 

Kov's jab would have to land though, and as can be seen from his defensive stats that's eaiser said than done with Bivol's distance management.

Fascinating match ups though!

 

To beat prime Kovalev, you typically have to get past his jab and do damage.

It’d be very difficult consistently get past his jab while outboxing him, like what Spinks did against Holmes, not many can pull that off.

If you’re able to go on the front foot the whole fight, you can get past the jab easier, as you can take away their movement by closing the ring off etc, whereas if you’re giving ground, they can simply step back when you attack.

Bivol wouldn’t have the physical presence not firepower to consistently make Kovalev go backwards.

Kovalev was brilliant at measuring with the lead. He changed the speed, trajectory and position of the lead hand to make it difficult to read.

Bivol may be able to burst in and catch Kovalev occasionally, but I see Kovalev being able to control that range and distance with that rangey and variable left hand, making Bivol struggle to read it, and therefore making Bivol’s attacks fall short.

 

Great points!

It still probably stands though that Kovalev in his prime never defeated anyone as good as Bivol all round, and certainly defensively. He hard plenty of issues with the awkward Chilemba IIRC. His best wins are generally regarded to be an ancient Hopkins, Pascal and the Alvarez rematch (after the Ward losses), though he really should have a W against Ward in that 1st fight IMO.

 

Prime Kova would beat Bivol without a doubt

 

Bivol x 3. Dangerous fight with prime Kovalev. Think Bivol still takes it on points.