[quote="TheLionPrince"]Simba would have won hands down. Like Carambulesco noted, Kovu needed to do an ambush sneak attack in order to have an early advantage.
Looking at the pictures for sizes comparisons:
lion-king2-disneyscreencaps_com-6187.jpg
lion-king2-disneyscreencaps_com-6203.jpg
Size: Simba has the weight and built of a well-grown, mature adult lion thanks to a heavy diet of zebras, antelopes, gazelles, and other herbivores. Kovu is roughly half of his size. He appears more lean. Simba is more bulkier. Director Darrell Rooney did state in the
Proud of Simba's Pride making-of documentary that Kovu was a "teenaged killer". So, if older Kovu is a teenager, that means he isn't hit the prime of his strength. His mane is not nearly as thick as Simba's as it stops short past his chest. Simba's mane clearly extends to his underbelly. The reason why lions have manes is for neck protection during a fight with another lion.
Age: Kovu has youth going for him. He probably has higher levels of energy and speed. On the other hand, Simba is more older and probably carries more endurance in a fight.
Training: It's never seen or discussed what was Kovu's training. We can infer that Kovu's swimming abilities such as dragging an unconscious Kiara was probably one of them. We do know Mufasa has taught Simba on how to pounce, but nothing else.
Experience: Simba has had experience in a fight with Scar, which was a fight-to-death battle that he nearly lost if not for his adapted use of Nala's flip maneuver. Simba most likely learned from that and is less willing to give mercy, but for the most part, he relies on pure instinct. Kovu's experience is likely not as much, at least comparing to taking down an animal with a similar body mass as Simba's.
Aggressive: Aggressive is a strong key in a lion versus lion fight. As Rafiki stated, Zira has filled "Kovu's heart with hate". Kovu can feed off his anger to keep himself strong in the fight. Meanwhile, due to his hatred of Scar and those who associate with him, Simba can be just as aggressive in the fight. It may not to hard to measure who has the highest level of aggressive, but Simba can be more aggressive. He has lived the experience of Scar's impact on his life and carries the weight and baggage of it. Kovu has only heard stories of Scar.[/quote]
Wow! Now you have used heavy artillery.
Hahahahah!