By Cliff Rold
29-year old Season Three Contender winner Sakio Bika (27-3-2, 17 KO) of Cameroon was too big and too good on Thursday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, walking through 27-year old hometown favorite and Season One runner-up Peter Manfredo (31-6, 16 KO) in three rounds.
Both men weighed in below the 168 lb. Super Middleweight limit, Bika at 166 and Mandredo at 167 ¾.
Bika came out methodically behind a long left jab and the smaller Manfredo did little do get inside before a right hand caught him near the ropes. A flurry of blows for Bika didn’t land much of note but made clear his substantive size and strength advantages. Inside the final minute, Bika laced Manfredo with a hard lead uppercut and a glancing right hand pushed him across the ring.
Round two saw things get worse for Manfredo. A long right hand rocked his head to the side only seconds in and by a minute in Bika’s respect for Manfredo was gone, lunging and loading with power shots. Bika would have been better served with less boldness. A short Manfredo hook caught a charging Bika off balance and sent him to the floor for an official knockdown. It would be a brief highlight. By the end of the third, Bika was back on full offense and building momentum.
The momentum would culminate in the ensuing round as Bika opened up completely on an outgunned Manfredo. A right uppercut had Manfredo all but out on his feet. Bika chased him into the ropes and unloaded with the right hand and a crashing left hook. Overpowered, Manfredo attempted limply to cover up but was a beaten man. The referee called a halt at 1:50 of round three.
The win was Bika’s third straight by knockout and second since stopping Jaidon Codrington in the classic Contender Season Three finale war. Bika has thrice challenged for world titles at Super Middleweight, losing lopsided decisions to Lucien Bute and Joe Calzaghe and going to a technical draw in four rounds with Markus Beyer. Bika maintains his #5 rating with the IBF and can hope for room to grow.
The undercard was less than scintillating.
Making only his second start since 2006 after suffering a knee injury, 37-year old Season Two winner Grady Brewer (24-11, 13 KO) of Lawton, Oklahoma captured a split decision over fellow Contender alum, 35-year old Cornelius Bundrage (28-4, 16 KO) of Detroit, Michigan, in ten rounds of near unwatchable Jr. Middleweight inaction.
Brewer, 153 ¼ started the bout tight, circling the ring and using his jab, landing a right hand counter over the top late in the first. Bundrage engaged largely with his jab as well, like Brewer a bundle of nerves. The action remained limited in the second round as the two men worked through awkward exchanges and clinches.
The crowd began booing in the third as Brewer and Bundrage looked for ways to land punches without slamming chest first into each other. As the boos grew louder, Brewer finally broke through the monotony with a right hand to the temple of Bundrage causing the first knockdown of the round. Bundrage rose quickly and easily survived to the bell.
Chastised in his corner between rounds, Bundrage charged out to start the fourth only for both combatants to settle back into the same messy clash of styles they’d been since the opening bell. The referee warned both for the second time in the bout for the high volume of clinches and grappling moves taking place but it did little to avert the trend.
A warning to Bundrage early in the fifth for a hard shoulder brought no point deductions but Brewer lost a point in the round for holding. Complaining to the referee that he was no guiltier than Bundrage, the referee replied that Bundrage would “get his too.” It was the most entertaining moment of the fight to then.
True to his word, the referee intervened to impose a holding penalty against Bundrage in the sixth and the fight continued not to develop. Aesthetically pleasing combat broke out in round seven during the last minute, Brewer connecting with a sharp right hand to stun Bundrage. Bundrage slammed a right of his own home in round eight as both men fought near the ropes.
It was rinse and repeat in the final two of ten scheduled rounds, a final point deduction leveled against Bundrage for hitting on the break in the waning seconds of the tenth. The crowd booed loudly at the final bell.
The last point deduction would prove the difference as Brewer captured a split decision by scores of 94-91 and 93-92 with the third card going to Bundrage 95-90.
Also televised, the aforementioned Codrington (19-2, 15 KO), 24, 175 ½, of Queens, New York got a surprisingly tough fight from 30-year old William Gill (8-21, 7 KO) of Toms River, New Jersey before scoring a last second knockout at 2:57 of the eighth and final round.
The televised card was carried live in the U.S. on the Versus network, promoted with the Contender Series.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
