He'd match up well with any great LHW from the past just not sure how many he beats, but he'd be competitive against anyone.
He's clearly better than Bivol, who everybody is in love with for beating MW Canelo. Kovalev would KO Bivol. Kovalev has similar boxing skill plus massive power. I don't understand why people would think Bivol beats Kovalev. He has no advantages in that matchup. I think Kovalev could also KO Beterbiev in the pros, but that's obviously a dangerous fight and might go either way. But Beterbiev does get nailed, for instance Smith landed some clean big ones on him. If that was Kovalev maybe Beterbiev is on the ground. It's funny people think Kovalev wasn't on the slide by mid-30's too, when most fighters that size are ready to retire. Ward retired straight after and when the AJ fight fell through, he didn't come back. Kovalev KO's all these nostalgia fighters from the past. Absolutely he was a krusher in his prime. Pascal was in the corner telling Roach the power was overwhelming (someone that had a war with Froch). So it puts it in perspective. Also Cleverly mentioned the same thing and he was known for his chin.