Prime Sergey Kovalev against whatever you perceive to be the prime versions of Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, does Kovalev beat either of them? In my opinion, he beats Bivol and loses to Beterbiev. Even in his prime, Kovalev always seemed a tad weak mentally. Beterbiev wears him down and finishes him somewhere around round 9.
Kovalev would have more trouble with Bivol based off of styles. Beterbiev with his come foward style would be better for Kovalev to pick apart with his great jab and straight right hand.
M Korobov beat Kovalev too but that doesn't mean he would do the same in pros. Beterbiev won by a point or two at best. Their final fight was highly controversial.
I think PRIME Kovalev vs PRIME Beterbiev would be a ****ing war. Both guys would most likely hit the deck at some point. Neither would give up or cave in mentally. Maybe fight of the decade type stuff in this one. Edge to Prime Sergey do to that jab. Bivol would hold his own with both but lose a competitive but clear UD imo. Gotta say… I’m Surprised THE NAIL is still being written off!! You give Oleksandr a full training camp with a better more modern trainer like Poppa Chenko and a better game plan than he had against Beterbiev the first time… he’s VERY capable of getting that one back!! I prime Krusher would be a 50/50 fight.
Kovalev and Beterbiev would have been amazing. They both just wore down their opponents physically and mentally. Beterbiev is surprisingly adept at cutting off the ring and I would love to have seen which of the two would have spent most of the bout fighting off the front foot.
Both at their best would turn out to be All Time Classic type stuff imo. Both are ****ing CREATURES at their best man. Like the Sergey that beat Hopkins or maybe a couple fights before that against The Artur that wore down Gvozdyk…. I ain’t missing that one for anything. Work gets out on hold. Lol
Kovalev's best win was prime Cleverly. He couldn't knock out an old Hopkins who got punched out of the ring by Smith Jr. He went life and death with Chilemba and many people claimed he lost that fight. He was down against Caparello. While he beat Ward and got robbed, he should have destroyed him after that first knockdown. Ward is an overrated, dirty fighter whose legacy is beating guys like Kessler, Froch or Abraham. SMW was an extremly weak weight class during Ward's period, no one ever mentions these guys anymore in a historical context. Look at Canelo vs. Kovalev. Anyone thinks that fight would have bee much different against a prime Kovalev? Bivol and Beterbiev are on completely different levels. It's the new generation. Especially Bivol, you don't just outbox a living legend like Canelo for 12 rounds straight like that. These are elite skilled fighters.
Beterbiev had too many advantages over Kovalev (durability, mental fortitude, IQ, stamina, strength, inside fighting, amateur history, proven ability to win at the elite level) and would have probably beaten him. Bivol is harder to determine because of the power difference but he's at least as good a pointfighter and has shown less vulnerability.
I think KOvalev ko’s the come-forward Beterbiev and might drop a decision to Bivol. However I do think Beterbiev gets the ko against Bivol.
Both Bivol and Beterbiev would have beaten Kovalev convincingly IMO. Bivol by decision and Beterbiev by stoppage in a great fight.
