Bivol would have been involved in a huge title unification against Sergey Kovalev on this card, had Kovalev not been upset in August by Eleider Alvarez, but will instead face a name fighter in former champion Pascal, who seems to be well past his best days.
My best guess is that this fight goes one of two ways- Either an inspired Pascal summons whatever he has left in his backpack, troubles Bivol for a while and but wears down for a late stoppage or clear decision or Bivol just dominates Pascal from the opening bell and finishes him in the first six rounds.
The other two fights are on a DAZN card from Monte Carlo with the main event being the WBA's cruiserweight "Champion in recess" (Which basically means he'll receive a title shot when he asks for it) Denis Lebedev returning to the ring against Mike Wilson.
Wilson is from Oregon (Not exactly a traditional boxing area) and has fought no one of note, despite being undefeated.
Lebedev returns to the ring for the second time since September after fighting just one in two years
after losing to Murat Gassiev in 2016.
My guess is that Lebedev is attempting to get back into ring shape as he anticipates Oleksandr Usyk's departure from the cruiserweight division and then cashes in his title shot for the vacant WBA belt against a softer opponent.
The only challenge bout on the undercard from Monaco will show Kal Yafai's defense of the WBA junior bantamweight title against Israel Gonzalez.
Yafai will hopefully have a shot a bigger fight in the division in 2019 and an impressive win over Gonzalez might help after Gonzalez lasted ten rounds with IBF champion Jerwin Ancajas in February.
In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 190-169
WBA Light Heavyweight Title.12 Rds
Dmitry Bivol vs Jean Pascal
R.L: Bivol KO 6
TRS: Bivol KO 8
Cruiserweights. 12 Rds
Denis Lebedev vs Mike Wilson
R.L: Lebedev Unanimous Decision
TRS: Lebedev KO 5
WBA Junior Bantamweight Title. 12 Rds
Kal Yafai vs Israel Gonzalez
Both: Yafai Unanimous Decision
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