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by Cliff Rold - It’s not enough to win.
The opponents for Light Heavyweight Champion Adonis Stevenson are all, to some degree, simply a comparison point. For close to two years, the fight that matters most at Light Heavyweight has remained the same.
Boxing followers want to see Stevenson against triple-unified titlist Sergey Kovalev. Sakio Bika, a former titlist at 168 lbs., is the latest obstacle to that potential clash.
He’s no easy obstacle. Network TV might have a decent scrap on their hands (Saturday, CBS, 3 PM EST/12 PM PST).
Given a late pro start, Stevenson is probably younger in the ring at 37 than Bika is at 35. Bika has been a professional six years longer than Stevenson and been up and down for all his fifteen years making a gloved living.
Bika has seen a lot of top guys and been creditable against most of them. He looked on his way to beating Markus Beyer before they had to go to the cards early. He wasn’t embarrassed, even in clear defeats, against Calzaghe and Ward. Bute was the only one to just sort of sit back, box him, and win going away.
Losing well isn’t anywhere near as good as winning. Stevenson is showing a knack for that. Outside an early loss to Darnell Boone, he’s show grit when he needed it and plenty of talent. While he hasn’t faced Kovalev, his title reign has had some pretty good challengers. Andrzej Fonfara earned his crack against Glen Johnson and Gabriel Campillo and proved he belonged. [Click Here To Read More]
The opponents for Light Heavyweight Champion Adonis Stevenson are all, to some degree, simply a comparison point. For close to two years, the fight that matters most at Light Heavyweight has remained the same.
Boxing followers want to see Stevenson against triple-unified titlist Sergey Kovalev. Sakio Bika, a former titlist at 168 lbs., is the latest obstacle to that potential clash.
He’s no easy obstacle. Network TV might have a decent scrap on their hands (Saturday, CBS, 3 PM EST/12 PM PST).
Given a late pro start, Stevenson is probably younger in the ring at 37 than Bika is at 35. Bika has been a professional six years longer than Stevenson and been up and down for all his fifteen years making a gloved living.
Bika has seen a lot of top guys and been creditable against most of them. He looked on his way to beating Markus Beyer before they had to go to the cards early. He wasn’t embarrassed, even in clear defeats, against Calzaghe and Ward. Bute was the only one to just sort of sit back, box him, and win going away.
Losing well isn’t anywhere near as good as winning. Stevenson is showing a knack for that. Outside an early loss to Darnell Boone, he’s show grit when he needed it and plenty of talent. While he hasn’t faced Kovalev, his title reign has had some pretty good challengers. Andrzej Fonfara earned his crack against Glen Johnson and Gabriel Campillo and proved he belonged. [Click Here To Read More]
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