Joe Calzaghe vs Sakio Bika

A contest arranged as a polished introduction to American television became one of the most awkward and physically demanding nights of the champion’s long reign. Joe Calzaghe retained the WBO, IBF and Ring super-middleweight championships against Sakio Bika at Manchester’s M.E.N. Arena on 14 October 2006, but the unanimous decision concealed much of the difficulty. There were no knockdowns, yet Calzaghe finished with stitches over his left eye, swelling around the jaw and heavy bruising after 12 rounds of holding, head clashes and untidy exchanges.

Calzaghe entered unbeaten in 41 contests and was making the 19th defence of the WBO title he had won from Chris Eubank nine years earlier. It was also his first defence of the IBF championship, taken from Jeff Lacy in a commanding performance seven months before. Bika, a Cameroon-born Australian based in Sydney, had lost only once in 23 professional bouts. His previous world-title challenge against WBC champion Markus Beyer had ended in a fourth-round technical draw after an accidental clash of heads cut the German. Bika required four visits to the scales before officially making the 168-pound limit, having drunk water after believing he was comfortably inside the weight.

The challenger did not attempt to match Calzaghe’s usual speed and output from the opening bell. Instead, he frequently waited, obliging the southpaw champion to lead and then looking to catch him as he entered. Calzaghe, eager to reproduce the fluency of the Lacy contest before his first HBO audience, rushed his attacks and often came forward without establishing the jab. Bika’s punches were wider and less accurate, but his strength and irregular timing prevented Calzaghe from settling into a smooth rhythm.

The contest grew rougher during the early rounds. Bika stepped forward with his head low, closed the distance abruptly and worked with either arm whenever the two men became entangled. Calzaghe continued to score with the quicker combinations, but many exchanges ended in clinches or with both fighters falling over one another. At the end of the fourth, a clash of heads opened a cut above Calzaghe’s left eye. Blood ran from the wound and remained a problem for the rest of the fight.

Referee Mickey Vann had repeatedly warned Bika about the use of his head and deducted one point in the fifth round following another infringement. The penalty did little to alter the challenger’s approach. He crowded Calzaghe, leaned on him and attempted to turn every close exchange into a test of strength. Calzaghe answered in kind at times, using his forearms to create room and punching whenever he could free his hands. The boxing was fragmented, with short bursts of clean work separated by wrestling and warnings.

Through the middle rounds, Calzaghe’s greater hand speed and work rate gradually established a clear advantage. He moved laterally when given sufficient space, struck with fast clusters to head and body, then stepped away before Bika could reply. When the champion remained stationary, however, Bika forced him into untidy exchanges and landed occasional heavy right hands. Calzaghe sometimes dropped his gloves and attempted to draw the challenger forward, conduct that displeased his promoter, but he was never seriously hurt.

Bika remained strong and willing in the closing rounds, though he could not match the champion’s volume or accuracy. Calzaghe continued to release combinations in brief flurries and collected the cleaner scoring blows, even as the cut bled and the physical strain became visible. The challenger’s pressure made the rounds uncomfortable, but he lacked the precision to convert that effort into sustained success. Calzaghe completed the twelfth still throwing and was a deserved winner, although the performance bore little resemblance to his dismantling of Lacy.

Phil Edwards scored the contest 116–111, while John Lawson and Jose Hiram Rivera each returned 117–110. The point deducted from Bika in the fifth was included in those totals. Calzaghe advanced to 42–0 and acknowledged afterwards that he had been too hasty and had chosen the wrong tactics. Bika had been crude and persistently rough, but his strength and durability had denied the champion an easy night. The Australian later won the WBC super-middleweight championship, giving proper substance to a challenge that had initially been regarded as routine.

Coming after the Jeff Lacy masterclass, this was expected to be another comfortable night for Joe Calzaghe. It wasn’t. Sakio Bika was awkward, strong and prepared to make the contest ugly. He waited rather than charging forward, forcing Joe to lead, then crowded him with his head low and his arms working in the clinches.

Calzaghe never found his usual rhythm. He rushed his entries, smothered some of his own punches and became involved in the sort of wrestling match Bika wanted. A clash of heads opened a cut above Joe’s left eye, and Bika lost a point for his headwork in the fifth. There were plenty of warnings and messy exchanges, but beneath all that Joe was still landing the quicker, cleaner combinations. His hand speed and engine carried him through the untidy passages.

I had Calzaghe winning clearly, although the wide scorecards did not show how uncomfortable Bika made it. This was not vintage Joe, but champions are not always allowed to look good. Bika was crude in places, yet he was physically hard, durable and much better than many realised. He later became a world champion himself. Joe showed he could win when the boxing broke down and the contest became rough, which is a valuable quality in any champion.