The historic Forum in California will be set to host the latest Triller Fight Club match with an incredibly fun matchup between former WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey Kovalev and Tervel Pulev squaring off in a cruiserweight fight.
This means Kovalev will be fighting up a weight class than he is normally used to, which will be intriguing. Let’s look a bit deeper into both fighters and determine which one of these boxers will walk away with a victory.
Kovalev vs Pulev Stats
Sergey Kovalev Stats
Sergey Kovalev has been incredible inside of the boxing ring as he has a 34-4-1 (29 knockouts) so far in his career. Kovalev last fought against Canelo Alvarez, where he lost the WBO World Light Heavyweight Championship after being knocked out in the 11th round. He has been struggling a bit as of late as he is 4-4 in his previous eight fights since picking up his first career loss.
He has been landing incredibly significant punches throughout his career as he has a remarkable 85.3 knockout percentage thus far. This could be his chance to get back into championship contention and get back to the beginning of his career when he was arguably the best light heavyweight division.
Tervel Pulev Stats
Tervel Pulev has been doing incredible throughout his career as he is coming into this fight with a perfect 16-0-0 with 13 knockouts. He is coming off a TKO victory over Vikapita Meroro back on January 29, 2021. Pulev has dominated throughout his professional boxing career, as 13 of his 16 career wins have come via a knockout (81.3 knockout percentage).
However, three of his previous eight fights have gone the distance, which is not bad by any means but is showing he is taking a jump in competition and will need to continue to improve his combinations. If he can continue to fight as he has been here, it will be difficult to imagine him picking up his first career loss.
MaKovalev vs Pulev Betting Trends
- Sergey Kovalev won three of his previous four fights via knockout
- Tervel Pulev won four of his last six fights with a knockout
WKovalev vs Pulev Betting Predictions
This fight is as close as the boxing betting odds can be currently, as Sergey Kovalev is the favorite sitting at -130, while Tervel Pulev is the very slight underdog with +100 odds as of this writing. Betting on boxing can be difficult, especially in these Triller fights, as this seems like a step down in terms of fighting for Kovalev, who just lost a major championship.
Pulev has a slight height advantage of 1 ½ inches and is used to fighting at this weight class, while Kovalev is climbing a weight class here in order to compete and has been struggling recently, as we noted earlier, so moving up a weight class could be an interesting move. The cruiserweight division fights a little differently than the light heavyweight division, so this should be an adjustment as he is carrying a little more weight heading into the fight as well.
Both fighters have shown the ability to dominate fights and end it with a single strike at any moment, so expecting this to go the distance seems a little ludacris to me. However, Kovalev is coming off being a WBO Light Heavyweight Champion, and that is more than we can say about Pulev as he has not seen the same level of competition that Kovalev has fighting guys like Canelo Alvarez and Anthony Yarde. Both boxers are also coming off over a year of layoff, so that will be interesting to see some ring rust. All in all, give me Sergey Kovalev at -130 to win this fight.
Conclusion
Boxing picks can be one of the more challenging sports to bet as one punch can end things, and most fighters do not have the same opponents to compare them against. Betting boxing can be a little difficult, but I believe we found one with incredible odds that should happen this way due to a skill gap in competition.
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