Brook defeats Porter; Dirrell and Bika look poor; Figueroa toughs it out

08/18/201408/17/2014 Paul Strauss

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Shawn “Showtime” Porter 24-0-1 (KO 15) was the favorite, confident he would be able to reach the taller Kell “The Special One” Brook 32-0-0 (KO 22). He was poised to give Kell a good thumping at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, California. After all he took care of the slick, durable Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi in four rounds. Experts were siding with him. They dismissed The Special One’s undefeated record, pointing out only one victory came on USA soil. It was back in 12-17-2011, a 5th rd TKO of Luis Galarza. In their minds he hadn’t really been tested.

Porter planned to quickly and thoroughly check the quality of the challenger. He envisioned himself having the ability to cleverly duck under Kell’s leads and bouncing at least one counter body shot off Kell’s ribs before pivoting off to his right, nullifying Kell’s right, and at the same time inviting the man from Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK to turn to his left, right into more shots before he could reset.

Brook defeats Porter to capture IBF 147lb title; Dirrell outpoints Bika for WBC 168lb strap

08/18/201408/17/2014 Showtime Boxing

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) CARSON, Calif. (Aug. 16, 2014) – Turns out, it was Showtime … for “The Special One,” Kell Brook.

In a minor upset, Britain’s Kell Brook (33-0, 22 KOs), of Sheffield, England, won a battle of undefeated welterweights and the IBF world title with a majority 12-round decision over defending champion “Showtime” Shawn Porter (24-1-1, 15 KOs), of Cleveland, Ohio, Saturday on SHOWTIME from StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

Brook, fighting in his first world championship match and making only his second start in the United States, won by the scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114. There were no knockdowns.

Dirrell must avoid brawling with Bika

08/16/2014 Jeff Sorby

Anthony Dirrell (26-0-1, 22 KOs) will be looking to capture Sakio Bika’s WBC 168 pound title tonight in their rematch at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Dirrell showed the talent to win last time he fought Bika last December, but he played to his strengths by electing to slug it out for the entire fight instead of boxing him the way that his brother Andre Dirrell had wanted him to.

Tonight, Dirrell is going to need to stay 100% focused on hitting and getting out of the way of Bika’s fierce assaults. Dirrell cannot fight the same way by standing in front of Bika hoping he can get the better of him.

Bika showed last time that he’s the better slugger of the two, and more capable of winning those kinds of brawling fight. Dirrell had Bika hurt and on the canvas in the 5th, but he wasn’t able to repeat that in any of the remaining rounds

Showtime Tripleheader Preview & Weigh-In Results

09/15/201608/16/2014 Michael Montero

Fans, media, fighters and their teams gathered at the StubHub Center in Carson, California this afternoon, as the official weigh-ins for tomorrow’s Showtime Boxing tripleheader took place.

Omar Figueroa 23-0-1 (17KO) vs. Daniel Estrada 32-2-1(24KO)
Lightweight title bout

Figueroa returns to the StubHub Center, where he narrowly escaped with a controversial split decision victory over Jerry Belmontes in April. For Estrada, this is his first bout outside of his native Mexico, and easily the biggest stage he’s ever fought on. Estrada hit the scales first, weighing in at 134.5 pounds; while Figueroa came in right at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds.

Dirrell: Bika can’t lay a hand on me when I box

08/14/201408/14/2014 Jeff Sorby

(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) #6 WBC Anthony Dirrell (26-0-1, 22 KOs) plans on taking a page out of the playbook of his defensive-minded brother Andre Dirrell by strictly boxing WBC super middleweight champion Sakio Bika (32-5-3, 21 KOs) and not letting him hit him in their rematch this Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Dirrell made it easy for Bika the last time they fought by standing perfectly still in front of him during the fight. Later on in the second half of the action, Dirrell frequently was backed up against the ropes and took a lot of punishing body and head shots.

Andre Dirrell tried to give Anthony advice in between rounds by telling him to stay off the ropes and box Bika in the center of the ring, but Anthony stuck with his game plan of trying to beat Bika by out-slugging him.

Sakio Bika Draws With Anthony Dirrell: Retains WBC 168 lb Strap

12/08/201312/08/2013 Tony Nobbs

Super middleweight warhorse Sakio “The Scorpio” Bika, from Sydney, NSW, Australia, retained his WBC strap with a split draw against Flint, Michigan’s Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell in Brooklyn, New York, Saturday night.

In the opening televised bout from the Barclays Center, Douala, Cameroon born Bika was the much more aggressive fighter throughout the twelve rounds.

In his first defense, thirty four year old Bika, rated 8 at 168 pounds by The Ring, began the fight looking intent on a knockout, recklessly throwing wild over hand rights and was picked off by the five years younger Dirrell, who had a three and a half inch reach advantage.

But Bika never stopped pressuring and from the start did good work to the body which told late in a gruelling match up but the big moments early came from the challenger.

Anthony Dirrell Ready For Bika on Dec. 7 on SHOWTIME

11/21/201311/20/2013 Showtime Boxing

bika33 NEW YORK (Nov. 20, 2013) – Unbeaten Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell, who is no stranger to overcoming adversity, finally gets his crack at a world title when he challenges defending champion Sakio Bika for the WBC Super Middleweight Championship on Saturday, Dec. 7, live on SHOWTIME (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The quadrupleheader, headlined by an all-Brooklyn bout between former world champions Zab “Super’’ Judah and Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi, is the first of back-to-back blockbuster events promoted by Golden Boy Promotions live on SHOWTIME. On Saturday, Dec. 14, in another four-fight telecast on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®, rising superstar Adrien Broner will defend his WBA Welterweight Championship against dangerous, hard-hitting Marcos Maidana in the main event.

Exclusive interview with Sakio Bika

02/11/201302/09/2013 ESB

bika33 by Dan Emicus:

How did you get into boxing?

I started boxing when I was 13 years old. I hurt my knee when I was playing soccer and swapped over to boxing. I went to a boxing Academy in Cameroon and the winners were getting prizes. I started winning, I started getting prizes and haven’t stopped since!

You were born in Cameroon, yet relocated to Australia by the time you embarked on your professional career. Was this due to boxing not being as popular in Cameroon, or is there more to it than that?

Boxing is popular in Cameroon, but only in the amateur system. Not professional boxing. The Government looks after the amateur program very well. From equipment and money to spend, through to the prizes I mentioned. When it’s time to turn professional there is nothing though, no opportunities.

Bute could face Bika-Sjekloca winner for WBC 168 lb strap in the spring

09/15/201601/11/2013 ESB

bute54 By Michael Collins: Former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (31-1, 24 KO’s) could be facing the winner of the February 16th clash between Sakio Bika and Nikola Sjekloca. Those two fighters will be fighting for the interim WBC super middleweight title at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

There’s talk that the World Boxing Council will elevate the current WBC 168 pound champion Andre Ward to the WBC Emeritus status and then free up his WBC World super middleweight title for the Bika-Sjekloca winner to claim it. Bute then reportedly could be fighting the winner of that fight by spring this year, according to RDS.ca.

It would be really helpful for the 32-year-old Bute to pick up the WBC title because it would put him in a better position during negotiations for a rematch with IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch later on this year. Bute’s bargaining position would be a lot better if he’s a title holder than just a challenger without a belt.