By Ian S Palmer
The Premier Boxing Champions series continues this Saturday, April 3 when from the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada when WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Adonis Stevenson of Haiti attempts to defend his crown for the fifth time against former super middleweight titleholder Sakio Bika of Cameroon. Stevenson won the crown by stopping Chad Dawson in the first round in 2013. This 12-round bout can be seen live in North America on the CBS network while British fans can catch the action live on Sky Sports.
The 37-year-old Stevenson, who’s a southpaw, enters the ring with an impressive record of 25-1 with 21 Kos while the 35-year-old Bika is 32-6-3 and has 21 Kos to his name. Stevenson’s last bout was a fifth-round stoppage over Dmitry Sukhotsky, but he’ll be facing stiffer competition in Bika. Stevenson’s claim to fame is his power while Bika has never been stopped, is durable and has decent power of his own. However, this will be his first bout in the light heavyweight division.
The matchup here should prove to be entertaining as long as Bika’s stern chin is still evident at the higher weight of 175 lbs. Stevenson’s chin has been questioned since he’s been on the deck in the past and his lone loss came via a second-round KO at the hands of Darnell Boone in 2010. Stevenson avenged that defeat with a 12th-round stoppage over Boone three years later. Bika has 250 pro rounds under his belt while Stevenson has gone 110.
Stevenson, who now fights out of Montreal, Quebec, will have a decided six-inch reach advantage on Bika which will make it tough for the African to get on the inside where he usually prefers to do his work. Stevenson isn’t always the most active guy in the ring, but he doesn’t really need to be due to the power he possesses. He’s pretty accurate with his shots and they come with a lot of steam on them. He’s pretty good at dictating the range in a fight and often lulls his opponents into a false sense of security before launching an attack.
If Bika makes a mistake he could pay for it. But up to now he’s faced some top class opponents and stood up to them all. However, he does usually fall just short when taking on Grade A opposition. He’s gone 12 rounds on 10 occasions with the likes of Andre Dirrell, Andre Ward and Joe Calzaghe. Bika is known to bend the rules once in awhile and that could be a great tactic against Stevenson as long as he doesn’t cross the line and lose points by deduction. Bika wants to turn this into an ugly phonebooth type of scrap while Stevenson will attempt to create some distance to extend his long, powerful arms.
Prediction
Bika has an awkward style, but he’s not that hard to hit. He’s not the fastest boxer out there either, but he is a tough SOB. The longer the fight goes the better it should be for Bika, but he also needs to win rounds in case he can last the distance. If he can turn this fight into a brawl and withstand the champion’s power we could see an upset here. On the other hand, Stevenson has the better boxing skills even though he’s not as aggressive. This is a tough one to pick, but let’s go with Bika by a close decision here.
