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Super middleweight contender Sakio Bika likely will step in to challenge titleholder Andre Ward in the wake of the withdrawal of Andre Dirrell from their scheduled Nov. 27 fight.
"We're working on that. Bika is definitely interested in doing the fight," Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Bika's co-promoter, told ESPN.com on Tuesday. "It's not done, but it's being worked on."
Ward and Dirrell, 2004 U.S. Olympic teammates and good friends, were supposed to meet in a Group Stage 3 bout in Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic, but Dirrell withdrew from the six-man modified round robin tournament last week. He cited neurological issues -- dizziness and lingering headaches -- stemming from his 11th-round disqualification victory against Arthur Abraham in their Group Stage 2 bout in March. Abraham was disqualified when he hammered Dirrell with a right hand to the temple that he did not see while he was down after slipping to the canvas.
Regardless of who faces Ward (22-0, 13 KOs) on Nov. 27 on Showtime, the fight is likely to be at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., Ward's hometown, according to Showtime's Ken Hershman.
What has not been decided is whether Ward's bout will be part of the tournament. He is the only fighter in the field to have already secured a semifinal berth heading into the Group Stage 3 bouts, the last of the round robin portion of the tournament. The tournament contract allows for fighters to fight outside of the tournament with Showtime's approval.
"We're working on that too," Schaefer said.
Dan Goossen, Ward's promoter, declined comment.
Shortly after Mikkel Kessler withdrew from the tournament in late August, Bika was offered the opportunity to replace him in the field and face Allan Green in Group Stage 3. However, Bika, 31, a native of Cameroon living in Australia, declined because he was not prepared to go into training camp in the immediate aftermath of his father's death. Instead, former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson was offered the spot in the tournament and will drop down in weight to fight Green on Nov. 6.
However, with Ward fighting three weeks later, and it being for a world title and more money, Bika is interested.
Bika (28-4-2, 19 KOs) twice fought for super middleweight titles in 2006, boxing to a four-round technical draw with Markus Beyer in Germany and losing a competitive decision to Joe Calzaghe in England later in the year. But he is best known for his rousing eighth-round knockout of Jaidon Codrington to win "The Contender" reality series in 2007.
In his last fight on July 31, Bika was disqualified in the first round for flagrantly hitting Jean Paul Mendy after he had already been knocked down in their title elimination bout in Las Vegas. A win would have earned Bika a mandatory shot at titlist Lucian Bute, who owns a 2007 decision against him in a nontitle bout. Now, he is in line for a title bout anyway, but against Ward.
Abraham and Carl Froch meet for a vacant title in another Group Stage 3 fight on Nov. 27 in Helsinki, Finland, on the same broadcast on which Ward will fight.
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