Sorry if my post sounded harsh but if you want to watch more Light Heavyweights I recommend Matthew Saad Muhammad, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Marvin Johnson, Michael Spinks, that era of Light Heavyweights was fantastic with so many memorable fights.
Bivol didn't just win He schooled Canelo He made him look like a journeyman. It shows how big an ass whupping it was, even Canelo's favorite judges couldn't save him with a draw but they still made it look ridiculously close
Kovalev for sure. Skill difference is not big, but both will land and Kova punches much harder and his arsenal is bigger.
I’m going with KOvalev. Bivol may or may not be strong, but he doesn’t sit down on his punches and prime KOvalev had a decent beard on him, plus he had a great jab himself. Either Bivol tries outboxing the Krusher and gets caught on the way out, or Bivol changes his fighting style to sit down on his punches and stay in the pocket a bit more in which case he’ll get caught there, too.
Prime Kovalev was a different beast to the washed up version that ended his career with a fizzle. I think Bivol might have a speed and footwork edge on him but the equalizer is Kovalev's long jab, power and timing. If Kovalev can shoeshine him with the jab and time Bivol coming in that migth be all he needs. On the other hand Bivol's defence is excellent and he has a really good chin. If he can avoid enough of the incoming and take it into the late rounds he might have the engine to blow all of Kovalev's gaskets. As has been noted: we have seen the best Kovalev but not the best Bivol. Right now I favour Kovalev but if Bivol can stomp Beterbiev convincingly then that could change. FWIW Beterbiev at his best might beat both.
Beterbiev will beat Kovalev. His chin isn't nearly as questionable as people think it is and his body attack is the best in the business today. Kovalev's body is by far the weakest part of him. I am not sure Kovalev will even be able to outbox him.
For the most part he just made him look small. If they were the same natural size Canelos body and arm/shoulder attack woyld have had a lot more effect and Bivol wouldnt have been able to drive him back and keep him at the end of his long shots as much as he wouldnt have had so much respect for them.
Bivol is more vulnerable than people think, Kovalev in his prime would’ve also beat Canelo, could see it being competitive from a technical standpoint, but could see Kovalev catching him and stopping him late on.
Yeah, people seem to forget that Canelo beat a version of Kova that was years past his prime and unable to make LHW without draining himself. If he had fought the "2014 edition" of Kova - the result might have been very different.