Joe Smith and Craig Richards did not seem to concerned of Bivol’s power

There are certainly fighters who have a KO record that don’t match their actual power. Jermaine Taylor was known for this. If you can drop a guy like Carl Froch like that, you have power. He also dropped Pavlik. Pavlik is a flawed fighter but his chin was a strong point for him. Martinez and Hopkins landed everything on him and he took it. There are many fighters like that. Tyson Fury and Canelo Alvarez are like that too imo. Fury, in ring, and the way he punches, looks like he should have 30KO’s. Usually, fighters who are like that, would blow past by the lesser opponents. For example, sure GGG went 12 with Jacobs, Derevyanchenko, and the full 8 rounds vs Ian Gardner. And 1 more guy who I didn’t get to see that fight so I can’t speak on it. But against other lesser fighters, he KO’s the sh.t out of them. Because he has that type of power where, yeah Canelo, Jacobs and Derevyanchenko can handle the power, but you are not Canelo, Dev or Jacobs. So you’re going down. Versus Gardner, if you see the fight, it was just a styles issue. Gardner was just hard to catch flush and moved around really well. GGG showed his boxing ability in that fight. I do not see that with Bivol. Joe Smith, Craig Richards, and Lenin Castillo were not stylistic issues. Go see the Richards and Castillo fights, they were pretty stationary. Smith moved around a bit, but not good enough to avoid countless hard combinations from Bivol. Chilemba has an awkward style, i’ll give him that one. Chilemba, as long he is not shot, is a hard guy to KO. He hit all 3 of those guys pretty hard, flush, repeatedly, and in combinations. The power was just not there. You can avoid a puncher all you want, once they catch you flush, repeatedly, you’ll go down. Bivol has great handspeed, very fast. I would say he is the fastest fighter at 175 in terms of handspeed. And his combinations, accuracy and punch placement make him a problem for any LHW. He is not Roy Jones, but man he is fast and knows how to throw and land really good punches. I I just don’t think his power is very good. I wish Canelo fights him after Plant at 175. I am not too excited about the Plant fight. But Canelo and Beterbiev vs Bivol at the full limit of 175lbs, makes me excited. If it happens at 168 (Canelo), obviously it won’t be as intriguing. A fighter not wanting to trade does not deter a smart puncher. It’s called cutting off the ring. Nobody really wants to trade punches with GGG after they taste his power. But GGG got the KO anyway. His supporters seem to be offended at that opinion but there is nothing wrong with not having power. Mayweather was a weak puncher at 147+, but had enough to get respect from opponents. That still does not make him a good puncher. Bivol also takes hard punches flush. He can’t do that with Beterbiev or Canelo. He needs to have better defense against them.

Bivol clearly has more power he is getting a credit for. Nobody was brave enough to try to walk him down so far. All his opponent prefer to take a boxing lesson from distance.

Yeah i’m sure that is why he has 11 KO’s, because opponents have such great defense and avoid his power punches. Bivol didn’t catch Joe Smith with everything. Bivol has GGG like power, he just hasn’t had the opportunity to show it yet. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Cringe at you. “Bivol has golovkin power” big moron you are. I’m pretty certain Katie Taylor would stop you in 4. Big sausage you are. Clueless. Utterly clueless. Stick to baseball F@GGØT

They were concerned. People with lesser KO ratios punch way harder than they’re credited for. Theres a reason those two were content to sit outside and take a boxing lesson. If Bivol didn’t have power, they would have bull rushed him. It didn’t happen because Bivol would have knocked them out. Yeah i’m sure that is why he has 11 KO’s, because opponents have such great defense and avoid his power punches. Bivol didn’t catch Joe Smith with everything. Bivol has GGG like power, he just hasn’t had the opportunity to show it yet.

Bivol's punches sure look and sound cracking. I mean, everything he throws is so crisp and has such snap on it. He clearly doesn't have the KO power of Beterbiev, but his shots keep his opponents honest.

What about Canelo fight Vs Bivol tho ohh I forgot that fight aint happening lol

Richards clearly took Bivol’s power punches better than Smith. Smith did look a hurt in a couple of instances after taking everything Bivol had to offer flush. But both opponents fought Bivol as if they are disregarding his power. Richards appeared to be in Bivol’s face the whole fight, actually looking more confident in the last 4 rounds. But Richards rarely stepped back. It looked like he was okay with trading in some spots too. Bivol’s best power shots appeared to have caught Richards by surprise but not hurt him. It is going to be interesting if Beterbiev vs Bivol can get made. Bivol looks like his best attributes is his handspeed and combination, but he does leave himself opened for big right hands often. Vs both Smith and Richards, you can see Bivol’s defense having lapses at times. Beterbiev is getting up there in age, and he can definitely be outboxed by Bivol. But his chin and power could be the deciding factor in that possible matchup. You can outbox Beterbiev all you want, he hits hard. And Beterbiev is not exactly a caveman swinging a club in there, he has excellent boxing skills and is defensively aware. He just can sometimes not care about defense either and let’s his hard chin be his defense. Gvozdyk was a hard puncher, very good boxer, but Beterbiev ran right through him. His boxing skills being better than Beterbiev’s did not matter in the end. He was beaten and sent to retirement early. Yeah I want to see that matchup man. Bivol is definitely not a flawless fighter, but as you said it is definitely possible that Bivol can outbox Beterbiev. It’s also possible that Beterbiev can hurt Bivol. That’s what makes it intriguing. If I had to bet I would take Bivol.