Former super middleweight champion and Sky Sports expert analyst Carl Froch is a big fan of WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (12-0, 10 KOs) of Russia.

Bivol has become a rising force in 2017 - and there are many how view him as a rising star to keep an eye on.

He saw action four times last year, including televised fights on both Showtime and HBO.

Bivol's last two fights were carried by HBO and the network will feature his next bout as well - when defends his belt against his most experienced opponent to date, mandatory challenger Sullivan Barrera of Cuba, on March 3rd from The Theater in Madison Square Garden.

That March card will be headlined by Sergey Kovalev defending his WBO title against Igor Mikhalkin, who holds the IBO belt.

Should Bivol and Kovalev both win their bouts, they could very well face each other at some point in the year.

The entire light heavyweight division opened up in 2017, when unified champion Andre Ward unexpectedly announced his retirement from boxing.

Froch believes that a dangerous up and comer like Bivol, who at the time had clinched a mandatory ranking under the WBA, had influenced Ward to retire sooner than later.

Even Froch, who during his career had faced the very best opponents within his weight class, admits that he wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of Bivol's furious punches.

"I think Dmitry Bivol is going to be great. He has a cool and calm demeanour and he oozes confidence, but not arrogant or nonchalant, he is just relaxed. He is so precise, so accurate with his work, he's lethal. Put him in with Sergey Kovalev down the line and you will see how good he is," Froch told Sky Sports.

"I have a feeling Bivol helped Andre Ward make his retirement decision and I don't say it very often, but I've seen something in Bivol that I wouldn't want to stand in front of."