Barrera claimed the kovalev fight offer wasn't for the a world title at the time and that's why he turned it down, the title was added in pretty late for that one.

Anyway Barrera has a pretty bad habit of being knocked down early on i. Fights, Ukrainian fellow put him down, Joe Smith Jr had him down in round one, valera nearly kod him in round one last time out, and even ward knocked him down fairly early..... Bivol seems pretty strong and aggressive I think this one won't last long.