Not many people will be excited for this match up but I believe it should be a competitive and fun fight. Yusuf Kanguel needs to win here or he will have to go back down to domestic level and perhaps have to look at his future in the sport. Petro Ivanov is on a really good run of form recently and at the age of 24 is only improving. The question here will be if this is too early for Ivanov in his career.
Yusuf Kanguel fights on the front foot and puts a lot of pressure on. His defence mostly consists of a high guard as he walks towards his opponents. He has limited head and upper body movement and instead just tries to block his opponents punches on his gloves. I think his biggest flaw is that he doesn’t jab very often and can sometimes go a whole round without throwing a jab which if you want to get to world level you can’t not jab. When he gets into range behind his high guard he throws big hooks to both the body and head which he really loads up on. He is tough but can be broken down over time by younger fresher fighters.
Petro Ivanov also fights on the front foot and is very aggressive so I can see this fight being a war. He has better technical skills than Kanguel though hes by no way the finished fighter yet. He has decent power but does load up on his punches sometimes rather than punching in combination. A thing he does well is when he punches he moves his head off the center line however lacks solid head movement when not punching. A bad habit of his is that he will sometimes back up in straight lines which will lead to him getting caught needlessly. He has a good chin and his stamina seems great especially with the pace he sets. I like his timing on his short hooks and uppercuts.
I think Petro Ivanov will win by late stoppage due to the pace he sets and being the younger fresher man. He also has better technical skills and when the two are exchanging I think his punches will land first. He also does use a jab occasionally which is something Kanguel lacks.
Boxing Fulcrum 