Sakio Bika (born 18 April 1979) is a Cameroonian-born Australian

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He held the WBC

super-middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ...

title from 2013 to 2014, and previously the IBO super-middleweight title from 2008 to 2010. In 2015 he challenged once for the unified

light-heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

world title, and in 2007 won the third season of '' The Contender'' reality TV series.

Amateur career

As an amateur, Bika was a member of the 2000 Cameroonian Olympic Team as a

Light middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA a ...

. He lost to Scott MacIntosh of Canada. Since the 2000 Olympics Bika fights out of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, Australia.

Professional career

Sakio took the opportunity to fight the German champion

Markus Beyer Markus Beyer (28 April 1971 – 3 December 2018) was a German professional boxer who won the WBC super middleweight title. As an amateur he represented Germany at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics in the light middleweight division. He also won a bron ...

for the WBC Super Middleweight world title in Germany in May 2005. After an accidental head clash in round 4 the doctor ruled Beyer unable to continue. Under WBC rules the bout was declared a technical draw. Sakio was awarded all 4 rounds on one judges score card, and the stoppage was considered controversial.

Bika vs. Calzaghe

On 14 October 2006 Bika challenged Joe Calzaghe at the

MEN Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has the ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

for the IBF and

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

titles. He was defeated unanimously on the score cards by a wide margin. Bika's then fought undefeated

Lucian Bute Lucian Bute (born February 28, 1980) is a Romanian-Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2017. He held the IBF super-middleweight title from 2007 to 2012, successfully making nine consecutive defenses and reaching a peak r ...

at the Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bute won by unanimous decision in a fight that was an IBF

super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pound ...

title eliminator. Sakio obtained his Australian citizenship in 2006. Although he bases himself in Sydney, Australia, Bika remains proud of his dual citizenship and his status as an

African Australian African Australians refers to Australians who were born on the African continent and migrated to Australia, or who have or had an immediate ancestor who made such a migration. Large-scale immigration from Africa to Australia is only a recent ph ...

. He was one of the featured boxers on the 3rd season of the boxing reality TV series, The Contender, which premiered 4 September 2007 on ESPN. After wins against

Donny McCrary Donny McCrary (born October 15, 1982 in St. Joseph, Missouri) is an Irish-American professional boxer. Professional career Known as "The Savage", McCrary began his professional career in 2003, and has lost to contenders Lucian Bute, Kofi Jantuah, ...

and in a rematch with Sam Soliman (the only fighter to defeat Bika other than Calzaghe and Bute), Bika earned a place in the final against

Jaidon Codrington Jaidon "The Don" Codrington (born June 5, 1984 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an American professional boxer. He fights at Light Heavyweight out of Queens, New York and had a record of 20 wins and 2 losses, with 16 wins by knockout. A contestant ...

at the TD Banknorth Garden in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on 6 November.

''The Contender'' season 3

On Tuesday, 6 November 2007, Bika knocked out

in the championship bout to win The Contender. The fight was wild, with both fighters being knocked down in the first round. In the end, Bika stopped Codrington in the eighth round by referee stoppage (TKO). Bika walked away with $750,000 in prize money. After the Codrington fight, Bika returned to the ring in Australia with a first-round KO of Argentinian Gustavo Javier Kapusi. Bika won the fight right at the end of the round with a body shot. Bika returned to the ring on 13 November 2008, in a fight with former

season one Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: ...

contestant

Peter Manfredo Jr Peter Manfredo Jr. (born November 26, 1980) is a former American professional boxer and former IBO middleweight champion. He has challenged twice for upper-level world titles, at middleweight and super middleweight, as well as having won the NA ...

at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Bika won by TKO in round 3. With the win, Bika became the

International Boxing Organization The International Boxing Organization (IBO) is a US based corporation that sanctions professional boxing matches and awards world and regional championships. It is an independent and well-known organization not recognized by the "big four" gov ...

super middleweight champion. Bika fought

Jean Paul Mendy Jean-Paul Mendy (born December 14, 1973 in Mantes-la-Jolie, Yvelines) is a professional boxer from France, who won the bronze medal in the middleweight division (– 75 kg) at the 1997 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Budapest, H ...

on 31 July in Las Vegas, for an IBF #1 spot and a shot at the title. Bika lost the fight by disqualification in the 1st round after he hit Mendy following a knockdown and while Mendy was still on his knees.

Bika vs. Ward

After the Mendy fight Bika was given a shot at unbeaten WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward, A voluntary defence by Ward after he defeated Allan Green. Bika used a fast pace a threw a total of 612 punches (400 of which were power shots) landing 201, however this was not enough to ruffle the champion who used defence and counter punching to land clean and effective blows throughout. Winning on all three scorecards Ward took a dominant decision with scores of 120–108, 118–110, 118–110, handing Bika his fifth loss. On 2 June 2012, on the undercard of Antonio Tarver vs Lateef Kayode, Bika fought Dyah Davis, the son of Olympic gold medalist Howard Davis. Bika dominated the fight, stopping Davis in round 10 to win the NABF and WBO inter-continental super middleweight titles. He defeated Nikola Sjekloca via unanimous decision in a WBC Eliminator.

WBC super-middleweight champion

On 22 June 2013, on the undercard of

Adrien Broner Adrien Jerome Broner (; born July 28, 1989) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including the WBO super featherweight title from 2011 to 2012, the WBC lightweight title from 2012 ...

vs.

Paulie Malignaggi Paul "Paulie" Malignaggi (; ; born November 23, 1980) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017 and has since worked as a boxing commentator and analyst. He held world championships in two weight classes, including ...

, Bika defeated

Marco Antonio Peribán Marco Antonio Peribán Hernández (born 10 August 1984) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is signed with Oscar De La Hoya's Company Golden Boy Promotions. Personal life He is the brother of the professional female boxer Guadalupe Peribán, als ...

via 12-round majority decision to win the vacant WBC super middleweight title. Bika had his first defense of the WBC super middleweight on 7 December 2013 undercard of Paulie Malignaggi vs.

Zab Judah Zabdiel Judah (born October 27, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2019. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF and WBO junior welterweight titles between 2000 and 20 ...

. He retained his title after earning a split draw against

Anthony Dirrell Anthony Dirrell (born October 14, 1984) is an American professional boxer. He was a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, having held the title in 2019 and previously from 2014 to 2015. He is the younger brother of 2004 Olympic bronze medal ...

. On 16 August 2014, at the

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Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

, Bika faced Dirrell in a championship rematch. After 12 rounds, the judges awarded the fight and the title to Dirrell by unanimous decision.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bika, Sakio 1979 births Cameroonian male boxers Living people Sportspeople from Douala Reality show winners International Boxing Organization champions Boxers from Sydney World Boxing Council champions The Contender (TV series) participants Australian male boxers Middleweight boxers Light-heavyweight boxers World middleweight boxing champions Light-middleweight boxers Olympic boxers of Cameroon Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics