In Praise of Sakio Bika

In it's countdown of the 20 best fights of 2007, Bad Left Hook rates the Codrington/Bika Contender finale fight #5. About right, I think. But it seems everyone who talks about Bika prefaces it with how this is going to be the high point of his career, he's not really an elite fighter, he's no threat, etc., etc.. BLH put it this way:

Even the show's biggest supporters will admit that neither Bika nor Codrington are likely to become serious contenders in the 168-pound division, let alone champions. After all, Bika's had his shot at Calzaghe, and he lost to Bute, who went on to win a title, too.

Sakio Bika has a record of 25-3-2 (15 KOs). His only unavenged losses are to Joe Calzaghe and to Lucien Bute -- the undisputed #1 and either #2 or #3 guy (depending on where you now put Mikkel Kessler) in the division. People are acting as if this basically exposes him as a club fighter. Excuse me, but if I'm not mistaken nobody has beaten either Calzaghe or Bute. Bika's a former Olympian, has an chin like granite, and a solid punch. While he lost decisively to both Calzaghe and Bute, he certainly wasn't overwhelmed by them. I think folks are being way too harsh.

Bika may never be a champion, but that's more a testament to the depth of the Super Middleweight division and the fact that it is possibly the one division in boxing without a ridiculous amount of title fragmentation. But if you're telling me that Bika wouldn't be a really tough match-up for any of the contending Super Middleweights (Allan Green, Edison Miranda, Jean Pascal, Markus Beyer, -- whom Bika scored a technical draw against), I say you're joking. He's a live name, and folks take him lightly are their own peril.