why is bivol being treated as a sure thing over barrera

[jamamb]

just curious. its next week

bivol has really beaten no one that good. barrera is a big ass lhw and pretty strong. he gets dropped but recovers well. im not saying barrera should be the favourite but why does pretty much everyone see it as almost a sure thing?

they have one notable common opponent felix valera, and both dropped valera and won pretty much every round for a decision. bivol was dropped and barrera wasnt but overall it really wasnt that difference in terms of degree of control

[jamamb]

east euro bonus points maybe?

[lazboy]

Yea shouldn’t be a sure thing. For the little I’ve seen of Bivol I favour him slightly going by gut. Would be an excellent win for him and hopefully a great, competitive fight. If he can look good against barrea.....that’s impressive.

[asdfjkl]

Just look at their age, or ask Felix Valera, he can answer your question easely.

[jamamb]

felix valera lost pretty much every round vs both

i think the clearest difference is probably early rounds. bivol starts really fast and barrera slow, being dropped early a few times. but i would say that bivol hasnt even fought on the level of two guys who dropped barrera and like i said overall there wasnt much difference in how widely they beat valera

for me bivol really hasnt been in with anyone as skilled or as strong as barrera, so theres a lot of questions. sure he looks great vs rob berridge but barrera aint berrigde

again not saying bivol shouldnt be the fav but this is a totally new level for him and i dont see why he should be so heavily favoured vs this level

[Enlightened-One]

Sullivan Barrera will adopt a cautious approach for his bout against Dmitry Bivol and will start slowly, but he’ll get jumped on from the get-go against the Russian, which will result in the Cuban getting dropped early.

Barrera’s lack of cerebral approach (ring IQ) to his bouts, means that he won’t be able to overcome adversity in this fight and adapt to the early pressure he’ll be under, which will probably result in the Cuban getting stopped inside of three rounds.

[boxing_rocks]

I would have doubts about Bivol against a slick runner, but Barrera will stand and fight, so Bivol should take him out.

[Best Coast]

east euro bonus points maybe?

Legit possibility. For decades HBO ruled over Showtime in terms of big-name fighters. But recently Showtime has come on really strong and has surpassed HBO. HBO must now compete with ESPN too, which had Pac-Horn, Crawford-Indongo, etc & will carry the Crawford-Horn fight (and possibly Pac on the undercard).

So HBO is desperately in need of fresh young faces. Kovalev & Golovkin are pushing 35/36 and I believe HBO sees Bivol as the heir apparent to the highly regarded East Euros.

That's not to say I dont think Bivol shouldnt be favored. I see a competitive but clearcut win for Bivol. He's almost a decade younger and FAR hungrier than Barrera.

[boxing_rocks]

Being Russian is a bonus now??? LOL !
Quite the opposite. These guys are popular in spite of being Russian, because they have entertaining styles.

[jamamb]

bivol won every round and then knoced out barrera in the 12th. showed good boxng and late power. hes gone up in my view.

[Mexi-Box]

Looking foolish again, I see.

Bivol has always been legit.

[jamamb]

healthy sceptsm mate

i picked bivol anyway