OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — Andre Ward successfully defended his WBA Super Middleweight title with a hard-fought twelve-round decision over WBA #13 ranked Sakio Bika before a crowd of 4,120 Saturday night at the Oracle Arena to set up a Super Six showdown with Arthur Abraham sometime in the first quarter of 2011.
Ward (23-0, 13 KOs) of Oakland may have left the ring with the most bruises of his professional career, but showed his class in a lopsided decision win over the rough and rugged Bika (28-5-2, 19 KOs) of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia by way of Douala, Cameroon.
The fight was a wrestling match at the outset in an ugly first round, as the two tangled up for the most part. Bika, 168, may have landed the one telling blow in the round before the two collided for the first of many accidental headbutts. The roughhouse tactics continued in round two, with headbutting, clinching and wrestling. Ward, 168, looked to referee Dan Stell for some help, but nothing slowed Bika’s approach.
Bika blatantly utilized his elbow in the third and Ward took to holding Bika’s left. Bika allowed the holding and began clubbing Ward with his free right. With the inside fight going Bika’s way for the most part, Ward began to find his range on the outside and implementing his superior boxing skills. The two traded to close the third, with Ward landing the best shot and Bika getting one in after the bell.
Ward landed with a left to open the fourth and continued to box well when at a distance. Ward leaped in with a flurry that rocked Bika against the ropes. Even though Bika appeared hurt by the combination and was holding on before he fell, Stell waved off the knockdown. Bika continued to hold on when the action resumed, and Ward continued to press forward. It would appear that all of Bika’s rule-bending had gotten under Ward’s skin, as the usually composed champion was opening up more freely than in fights past.
Another bad accidental headbutt started the fifth. Bika landed with a solid right over the top that had Ward covering up. Both fighters got in their licks in the round before Bika landed a good shot late and Ward jumped back with a couple of his own. Bika smiled and patted Ward on the head after the bell.
The pace of the fight slowed a bit in rounds six through eight. Bika had his moments in those rounds, as most of the action took place on the inside. At one instance, Ward complained to Stell, and Bika forearmed him right in front of the referee.
Ward came on in the ninth and hurt Bika against the ropes. With Bika holding on for dear life, the referee struggled to break up the clinching and lectured the two once they let go of each other. With the fight going Ward’s way, Bika turned to boxing and found little to no success. Bika left the round with a cut over his left eye and little hope for turning around the fight.
After Ward continued to outbox Bika in the tenth and eleventh, Bika got wild in the twelfth, but could not get much done. In the end, all three judges had it a landslide for the defending the champion. Judge Marty Sammon had it a shutout, 120-108, judges Jon Schorle and Hunter Walton both had it 118-110 all for Ward.
After the fight, Bika was asked to compare Ward and current IBF Super Middleweight titleholder Lucian Bute, who had defeated the Cameroonian back in 2007 and is regarded by most as either the number one or number two in the division. “The more difficult fighter was maybe Andre Ward,” said Bika. “Andre Ward today was stronger and threw harder, so I think Andre Ward was the tougher one.”
Now Ward can shift his focus to his Super Six World Boxing Classic semi-final opponent Arthur Abraham, who was completely outboxed in a one-sided loss to Carl Froch earlier in the evening in Helsinki, Finland. However, when pressed for his thoughts on the match-up, Ward seemed reluctant to begin that process, and was brief in speaking on the subject. “This is the perfect guy to get ready for a fight like that,” said Ward. “I’m just pleased with the win. I am going to go back do better.”
Determining fight sites has been a factor in many of the disputes and spats that have occurred between the various camps throughout much of the tournament. Ward promoter Dan Goossen mentioned a desire to hold the fight on the Caribbean resort island country Saint Lucia and made it clear he would not make the fight in Germany. Though Ward fought in Saint Lucia back in 2007, it would be considered even ground. “Sauerland [Event] will not come out here to Oakland,” said Goossen. “We have a contract that allows for both parties to have a mutual agreement on a site, and in this case, a neutral site.”
Javier Molina (5-0, 4 KOs) of Norwalk, California was taken the distance for the first time in his professional career by journeyman Francisco Rios Gil (17-14, 12 KOs) of Phoenix, Arizona by way of Huatabampo, Sonora, Mexico in the final preliminary bout before tonight’s main event.
Molina, 149, utilized his boxing skills instead of overpowering the veteran Rios Gil, 149, as he had done his previous four opponents. After four rounds, all three judges had the fight for Molina by the scores of 39-37 and 40-36 twice.
In what was more of a boxing match than the action fight most had expected, Michael Ruiz Jr. (6-0-1, 3 KOs) of Fresno, California fought to a six-round split decision draw with the always tough Jonathan Alcantara (4-3-2) of Novato, California.
The fight got off to a bit of a slow start, as Ruiz, 120 ½, and Alcantara, 119, went through the feeling out process. The action began to heat up a bit to start the second, as Ruiz and Alcantara decided to exchange. As the fight progressed, Alcantara took on the role of boxer-mover and Ruiz continued to come forward. The fight would become an inside battle in spots, but for the most part was an exhibition of boxing skill. In the end, two judges had it 58-56, one for each man, while the third official scorer forced the draw with a 57-57 score.
Promising super middleweight Cornelius White (16-0, 15 KOs) of Houston, Texas continued to destroy everything put in front of him as he decimated experienced and usually durable Demetrius Davis (20-25-5, 8 KOs) of Washington, District of Columbia in one round.
White, 171 ½, seemingly hurt Davis, 166, with everything that he threw in the fight. White scored a knockdown right off the bat with a straight left jab and Davis never seemed to recover. A quick flurry with Davis leaning on the ropes scored knockdown number two. Davis got up wobbly and nearly fell through the ropes once White connected again. What could have been scored a knockdown was not, and the fight continued. Davis, getting knocked around the ring, managed to wave to the crowd and fire a quick flurry to end the round, but the ringside physician decided to call the fight before the start of the second.
Previously unheralded Khadaphi Proctor (6-6-1) of Hesperia, California scored three knockdowns en route to unceremoniously ending the undefeated run of lightweight prospect Stan Martyniouk (10-1, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California. Proctor, 135, surprisingly dropped Martyniouk, 134 ½, twice in the first and once in the third.
A right hand downed Martyniouk for the first time early in round one and a left hook scored the second minutes later. The second knockdown clearly hurt Martyniouk, who rose seconds before the end of the round. After getting beat for most of the second, Martyniouk sprung to life with two hard lefts just before the bell.
Just as it seemed Martyniouk was getting back in to the fight, he traded lefts with Proctor in the third. Unfortunately for Martyniouk, Proctor’s landed first and hardest, and prompted the third knockdown. To Martyniouk’s credit, he kept trying and clearly began to sit down on his punches with all that he could, but Proctor took them well and fired back. They traded punches after the bell to end the fifth, with Martyniouk’s landing last.
After a good round for Martyniouk to end the fight, the unanimous decision verdict was rendered in favor of Proctor. Judge Kermit Bayless scored it 56-55, while judges Marshall Walker and Michael Tate had it 58-53, all for Proctor.
Roman Andreev (10-0, 7 KOs) of the Komi Republic, Russia remained unbeaten in the opener, with a six-round decision over Manuel Del Cid (4-4, 1 KO) of Los Angeles, California. Andreev, 135, got off to a rough start early in round one, but bounced back late and stalked Del Cid, 135, for most of the second stanza.
Andreev took over mid-fight with his relentless pressure en route a six-round unanimous decision. Judge Kermit Bayless had it 59-55, while judges Marshall Walker and Michael Tate both had it a 60-54 shutout for Andreev.
In the walkout bout, Matt Villanueva (4-0, 4 KOs) of Van Nuys, California scored a third-round stoppage over Adrian Aleman (6-8-3, 4 KOs) of Cathedral City, California. Villanueva, 117 ½, flashed his speed and power throughout the bout, a fight that Aleman, 117, was never really in. In the third round, Villanueva landed a combination that prompted referee Ray Balewicz to stop the fight. Official time was 43 seconds of the third.
Photo by Craig Bennett/Goossen Tutor Promotions
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached ortega15rds@lycos.com.
