Andre Ward Defeats Sakio Bika, retains WBA Title

It would be an understatement to say that Andre Ward was in the proverbial dog fight when he defended his WBA title against Sakio Bika on Saturday night at the Oracle Arena in Oakland California and also aired live on Showtime. Clearly Bika’s strategy was centered on the old adage and conventional boxing wisdom to brawl a boxer and box a brawler.

Bika came out with the intent to make this a street fight of sorts throwing a lot of tight elbows from the inside and both fighters were cut early in the fight due to the many head butts. Ward showing his mettle was giving it right back to Bika and then some. Much of the fight was fought from in the cinch with a good deal of dirty boxing going on. At times it looked more like a Muay Thai fight than a boxing match. This went on for 12 vicious rounds although the last two rounds saw Bika beginning to wilt.

Bika, who took this fight when Andre Dirrell, Ward’s original opponent was forced to withdraw from Showtime's Super Six Super Middleweight Tournament (which this fight was not a part of) went on to lose to Ward who won by Unanimous Decision by 120-108, 118-110, and 118-110 on the judge’s score cards. In doing so, Andre Ward keeps his unbeaten record alive at 23-0. In fact, kudos to Ward as well in that he didn’t even need to take this fight.

The Andre Ward partisan crowd, while sparse, showered Bika with boos during his entrance and roared when the local favorite entered the ring. Throughout the fight, chants of SOG (Son of God) could be heard.

Next up for Ward, who continues to show inprovement with each fight, is the former IBF Middleweight Champion, Arthur Abraham most likely to occur sometime in the first quarter of next year.

By Rich Serpa

Nov 30, 2010 Add comment Share

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