Sakio Bika Eager For a Mikkel Kessler Showdown
By Mark Vester
Super middleweight Sakio Bika calls himself the "forgotten champion" of the division. Bika holds the less regarded IBO title and after winning "The Contender" reality show, he thought the big fights would roll in. Instead Bika is struggling to get a big fight. Most fighters in Australia choose to target Anthony Mundine, the biggest name in the country, but Bika refuses to head in that direction. He wants bigger fights than Mundine. One name in particular is Mikkel Kessler.
"I don't know why it is so hard to get a fight. I am the world champion but it is difficult to get fights. America is where I want to fight," Bika told the Sydney Morning Herald. "But I have to get active. I am open to fight anyone. I have asked Kessler for a fight but he says we are friends, we can't fight. I think we can."
Bika's trainer David Birchell can't believe that Bika is unable to land a decent fight.
"I find it amazing there aren't fighters lining up to challenge him because you can't escape that he's a big name in America. If a fighter beats Sakio, they get an instant name there because of The Contender," Birchell said.
"So many fighters here call out Mundine but the fact is they make a name here if they beat him, it won't even create a ripple in the US, and I say that with respect. The IBO doesn't have mandatory challenges. I think his opponents know how good a fighter Bika is. The worse thing Joe Calzaghe did was say Sakio was the toughest fight of his career … he may as well have told the world: fight this man at your peril."
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