Sakio Bika may replace Andre Dirrell in Super Six tournament

PanARMENIAN.Net - Super middleweight contender Sakio Bika likely will step in to challenge titleholder Andre Ward in the wake of the withdrawal of Andre Dirrell from their scheduled Nov. 27 fight.

"We're working on that. Bika is definitely interested in doing the fight," Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Bika's co-promoter, told ESPN.com. "It's not done, but it's being worked on."

Ward and Dirrell, 2004 U.S. Olympic teammates and good friends, were supposed to meet in a Group Stage 3 bout in Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic, but Dirrell withdrew from the six-man modified round robin tournament last week. He cited neurological issues - dizziness and lingering headaches - stemming from his 11th-round disqualification victory against Arthur Abraham in their Group Stage 2 bout in March. Abraham was disqualified when he hammered Dirrell with a right hand to the temple that he did not see while he was down after slipping to the canvas.

Bika (28-4-2, 19 KOs) twice fought for super middleweight titles in 2006, boxing to a four-round technical draw with Markus Beyer in Germany and losing a competitive decision to Joe Calzaghe in England later in the year. But he is best known for his rousing eighth-round knockout of Jaidon Codrington to win "The Contender" reality series in 2007.