Igor Mikhalkin is very good technically and he is usually difficult to figure out with his tricky southpaw style. He is not easy to land clean on if you are a limited boxer. He can be beaten but it takes someone like Kovalev who is a very good boxer, better than himself and has tremendous power which led to him being stopped. His other loss came 8 years ago. Where Mikhalkin seems to lack is in the power department. He hits hard enough to get your respect and knock-out or stop opponents of a certain level but it feels like he doesn’t punch wuite hard enough to deal with the elite light heavyweights in the world. His opponent Timur Nikarhoev (21-2) has fought most of his career in his native Belgium against opponents who has been mostly journeymen there for the paycheck. 2 years ago Nikarhoev was stopped against Joseph Mulema (5-3).
Mikhalkin at 34 years old, still has a lot left in the tank and he should be able to handle a fighter of Nikarhoev´s class without much difficulties. The Pick is Mikhalkin to win this fight