Sakio Bika tipped to replace Mikkel Kessler
Rumours are persisting that Sakio Bika is set to replace Mikkel Kessler as a member of the Super Six World Boxing Classic line up.
Many people thought the next step forward would be to drop Allan Green from proceedings and head straight to the semi-finals, but now it would seem that Bika could take on Green and bizarrely become the eighth fighter to fight in the Super Six.
If this were to happen it would be interesting to see what would happen in terms of the points table because when Jermaine Taylor quit and Green replaced him, the substitute didn’t take over the points. Yet if Bika was to come in now he wouldn’t be able to accumulate enough points to qualify for the next round meaning he can’t get anywhere in the competition, unless they just need a body for that one fight, which seems a bit pointless.
Bika can boast a very decent record of 28-4-2, his defeats coming to high calibre opposition like Lucian Bute, Jean Paul Mendy and the legendary Joe Calzaghe. He is a former IBO champion and perhaps most impressively of all he won the third series of Sugar Ray Leonard’s The Contender TV series.
It is another disappointment in what started out as a great tournament though. The idea of the Super Six was inspired, a competition that made sure there was no Manny Pacquiao v Floyd Mayweather-style avoidances, just the best versus the best.
However it was long until Jermaine Taylor pulled out, Arthur Abraham was handed a controversial defeat, then Kessler pulled out taking a belt with him and recently Abraham v Carl Froch was delayed due to an injury to Froch.
With only five fighters left it was thought that Green would be paid off and the other four would go straight to the semi-finals but instead it looks like Bika will come in.
Of course “Scorpion” has previous with Green as well. The two were set to fight in February with the winner of the bout set to take over from Taylor in the Super Six. However the plug was pulled on that play off with Green given the opportunity so this would mark a great opportunity to step in from Green and show the organisers what they missed out on.
Really though, if this tournament was to stay as the best super-middleweights names like Lucian Bute and Robert Stieglitz should be banded about as potential opponents as they are two fighters who are more commonly ranked higher than both Green and Bika. Even someone like Kelly Pavlik who has just moved up to super-middles would be a good shout because at least he has top-level pedigree.
Only time will tell what they decide to do but Bika is looking the likely option, depending fit they keep it as the super six or change it to a fantastic five or even a fearsome four.
They just need to make it all add up to something.
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