by Cliff Rold
Making the second defense of his WBA Super Middleweight title in front of an enthusiastic hometown crowd at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, 26-year old Andre Ward (23-0, 13 KO) used skilled infighting and some savvy disregard for a few of the rules of the trade to earn a unanimous decision win over 31-year old Cameroonian Sakio Bika (28-5-2, 19 KO) of Sydney, Australia on Saturday night. It was Bika’s third failed shot at a major title but, as always, the “Contender” Season Three winner gave a good account of himself in defeat.
Both men weighed in spot on the division limit of 168 lbs. The bout capped off the final weekend of the “Super Six” Super Middleweight tournament’s three preliminary rounds though it was not officially part of the brackets. Ward will enter the “Super Six” semi-finals as the number one seed.
Bika opened the fight with a double left hook, nasty intentions on both punches. Ward calmly covered up. The first clinch saw Bika rough Ward up with lefts in close, referee Dan Stell stepped in with a firm separation. Ward landed a left hook from range, Bika answering with a right. An accidental head butt drew a complaint from Ward, Bika throwing punches while those complaints fell on deaf ears.
Head clash complaints emerged early in the second round from both fighters, Ward otherwise using his jab and Bika clubbing in the clinches. In round three, Bika drew Ward into the sort of trench war he likes, mauling and clutching and butting, as the champion got increasingly aggravated. The head work opened a cut over the left eye of Bika. Ward opened a can of butt whipping in the fourth.
Jumping on Bika right away to make a statement, Ward’s head slipped into Bika along with a left hand to send Bika to the floor. Bika rose, Stell correctly ruling a slip, and Ward wobbled Bika with a left hook seconds later as the crowd volume rose. An exchange of left hooks at mid-ring seemed to rock Ward after a series of Ward lefts landed. Ward shook it off and kept his right high to defend while landing the cleaner shots down the stretch to build what appeared an early scoring lead.
Ward kept the scoring advantage in the fifth, but it was three minutes both men could be proud of. Bika landed a monster left, drawing a gasp from Ward’s hometown fans, but the former Olympic Gold Medalist answered by backing Bika up with sharp hooks, beating Bika at the physical game his opponent was counting on. The pace slowed in the sixth, both men roughing each other up close and neither seizing notable advantage.
The seventh and eighth rounds resembled the sixth, the edge shifting from Bika in the former to Ward in the latter, both men leveraging fierce power shots between grapples for position. Nearing the halfway mark of the ninth, a Ward right hand forced Bika to the ropes, the challenger stunned and wisely holding on. Ward landed what appeared to be an elbow in close along with some thudding body blows, even taking a moment to wave on the chants of the crowd.
Bika was out of answers in round ten, Ward overwhelming Bika with an assortment of tactics both legal and otherwise. It was a clinic on old school infighting belonging more to the grain of black and white film than the refinement of modernity. Ward pressed the advantage through the eleventh, Bika unable to turn the tide in what was becoming yet another missed title opportunity.
They touched gloves and then Ward touched the stomach of Bika with a left jab, his fans chanting “S.O.G.” for Ward’s nickname “Son of God.” Despite the religious overtone, Ward remained willing to dig through a devilish assortment of tricks. Just past the middle of the round, Bika landed three hard rights over the top and Ward was stunned. Ward held on, leaning forward with his head and Bika fell towards the ropes reaching for his eye to complain of a butt.
Stell separated the fighters and Ward used the break to catch his breath before catching Bika in another vice like grip in close to protect a sizable scoring lead. Bika ended the round with a flush left hook, Ward’s eyes narrowing as he wondered when the bell would sound to end a rough affair. Seconds passed and the bell sounded to give him his reprieve.
The outcome of the scoring was no surprise but the margins were, Bika given no credit for some of the excellent work he did in the first half and in the last round. Ward was a shutout winner on one card 120-108, followed by twin scores of 118-110. Bika was previously held to a technical draw in four rounds against then-WBC titlist Markus Beyer and lost decisively to then-World Champion Joe Calzaghe in a pair of 2006 title shots.
Ward, who took the Bika fight as a voluntary defense after former Olympic teammate Andre Dirrell left the “Super Six” tournament, was honest in assessing the night. “I love to look great and I want to look good doing it. I gotta’ go back and watch the tape but, you know, these kind of fights are necessary; fighting a tough, rugged guy like Bika and finding a way to get it done…you have to get through this if you’re going to be great. I’m far from it but I’m trying to get there.”
Who Ward will face on the road to trying for greatness was determined a continent away earlier in the day.
Broadcast via tape delay, the Ward-Bika telecast in the U.S. was opened with what many had hoped would be a Fight of the Year candidate from the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. It was instead a showcase for a talent whose full respect has been earned the hard way. 33-year old Carl Froch (27-1, 20 KO), 167, of Nottingham, England, posted a surprisingly dominant unanimous decision over Armenian-born 30-year old former IBF Middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham (31-2, 25 KO), 167 ½, of Berlin, Germany. With the win, Froch regained the WBC Super Middleweight bout he lost in a competitive affair with Mikkel Kessler in April.
Kessler gave up the belt when he withdrew from the “Super Six” due to an eye injury. The Froch victory marked the close of the preliminary rounds of the much touted, and troubled, enterprise.
The referee was Frank Garza.
The tempo of the fight was set almost immediately. Froch, four inches taller at 6’1, used his height and superior reach to measure with his left jab. Abraham, as is his wont, pressed behind high held guard, looking for power punches. It was Froch who struck power gold first, stunning Abraham twice in the first.
Unfortunately for Abraham, the first would be his best round for a while. Froch was more comfortable with each passing frame, flurrying to the head and body while taking small steps to avoid Abraham’s offensive lunges. An Abraham slip in the sixth looked at first like a knockdown but Garza correctly ruled otherwise. Abraham tried to use the awkward moment to fuel a scuffle but Froch was not rattled.
The dominance, and the beating, continued in the seventh and eighth rounds. A frustrated Abraham was warned for using his elbow, the only weapon could muster as he desperately sought a jab. In the ninth, Froch rocked Abraham repeatedly and ate only token offense, the power puncher sent to his corner with head hung low heading into the final quarter of the fight.
Jabbing between the guarding arms of Abraham, Froch picked spots in the tenth and easily slipped the dreaming bombs of Abraham. With no reason to change course, Froch did not in the eleventh, dominating with his jab, sticking with well chosen power shots, and evading rushes.
Abraham, who had opened the tournament as a betting favorite, found himself likely shut out eleven rounds into this third preliminary contest. Touching gloves to start the twelfth, Abraham needed a knockout to win and did his best to get it right from the gate. A massive right landed around the guard of Froch, the Englishman locking up before calmly returning to range and jabbing. Froch was having that sort of night, the sort where a fighter can seemingly do no wrong.
Two of the judges agreed, giving Froch the win by shutout scores of 120-108. A third score charitably gave Abraham a single frame at 119-109. With the win, Froch snares the number two position in the “Super Six” semi-finals. Froch and Abraham ended up the only two tournament participants to face the three opponents they were originally scheduled for prior to the opening round in the fall of 2009. Froch earned four points, going 2-1 with a decision against Dirrell offset by a decision loss to Kessler prior to Saturday.
Abraham can enter the semi-finals as the fourth seed for a showdown with Ward. The big hitter is still at three points after his lone win in tournament play, a twelfth round knockout of former undisputed Middleweight king Jermain Taylor.
Froch sounded confident in analyzing his victory. “There were so many times I wanted to step in and start unloading shots…the old me would have steamed in and got into a bit of a brawl with him and that would have been dangerous and that would have been silly.”
Froch now prepares for a showdown with late tournament entrant and former Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight titlist Glen Johnson (51-14-2, 35 KO). Given the styles of both men, it can already be counted as one of the most anticipated fights of 2011. Speaking to the challenge the ageless 41-year old, Froch said, “He’s old school. He’s been around the block a couple of times. He’s an old wise fox and you’ve got to give him respect because he still knows what he’s doing.”
Abraham, both eyes swollen, had no answers for an impotent outing. To his credit, he was stoic and offered no excuses. “It just didn’t work today,” Abraham stated through a translator. “He was the better man and he won.” Abraham was brief in speaking to the challenge he will face in the “Super Six” elimination rounds. “It will be a tough fight for both of us but I will give everything to win this fight.”
Commenting on the Abraham loss, and the struggle Abraham is experiencing trying to land punches in his last two fights, Ward stated, “That’s a downside for him and it may be too late to change that. He said he was going to come out faster but how can you if you’ve done that all these years, been a champion, been successful. Why would you change now and how can you change? I don’t think he’s gonna’ change. I think he’s gonna’ be the same ol’ Abraham.”
Fans will soon find out if the same ol’ Abraham and the old warhorse Glen Johnson can upset what seems now to a collision course for the Super Six finals.
The card was televised in the U.S. on premium cable outlet Showtime, promoted by Sauerland Events, Hennessey Sports, and Goosen Tutor Promotions.
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
