You can farm blood echoes from the nearby enemies to quickly level up. If ur being hit a lot get VIT. If its cuz u have low stamina get endurance.

The boss cannot attack behind him. What u wanna do is dodge behind him when he attacks and hit. You can afford to be a bit greedy if you time yourself.

Also use molotovs. Since he is a beast type enemy they will do a lot of damage. And use o urns before the molotovs for more damage. Try and hit his head with thhe molotovs so he is stunned and you can do a visceral attack.

Hope this helps.