PBC Boxing: Adonis Stevenson Dominates Sakio Bika, Retains WBC Crown

One of the world’s best fighters continued his dominance over the light heavyweight division, and he did it rather easily against a tough-as-nails challenger in the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions card on CBS.

Adonis Stevenson proved once again that he belongs amongst the top fighters on the planet pound-for-pound with a one-sided beating of Sakio Bika.

Stevenson’s vaunted knockout power played the biggest role in the fight, though he was unable to become the first man to ever knock out “The Scorpion.” But what “Superman” lacked in ending the fight early, he certainly made up for it with timely counters and a few knockdowns.

Stevenson was in control of the bout for much of its duration, keeping Bika at bay with pesky right jabs that inevitably set up the straight left. The Montreal fighter delighted the hometown crowd by tagging the challenger dozens of times with his power shot, but Bika hung tough and remained upright until the bell.

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Stevenson scored knockdowns twice: once in the sixth and again in the ninth, both coming from short counter left hands. But Bika, a former world champion at super middleweight who made his light heavyweight debut, kept getting up and trying to fight back.

“He’s tough,” Stevenson said following his retention of his WBC light heavyweight title. “I knocked him down but he kept getting up. He’s a very tough fighter.”

In the end, Stevenson’s sturdy jaw held up against Bika’s final attacks and he was awarded a unanimous decision. The three judges saw it all for him, but by the margins of 115-111, 116-110, and 115-110. Sherdog also had it for Adonis, but by the wider tally of 117-109.

Stevenson proclaimed afterward that there is no Kryptonite in the sport because he is “Superman.” Stevenson, who was the 2013 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year, improved to 26-1 with 21 KOs. There have been rumblings of him locking horns with Russian crusher Sergey Kovalev later in the year, but Stevenson didn’t call him or any other fighters out. Bika, for his efforts, fell to 32-7-3 with 21 KOs.



Former Russian Olympian Artur Beterbiev continued his impressive transition to the professional game, scoring a highlight reel knockout over rugged veteran Gabriel Campillo in the co-feature. Beterbiev scored a knockdown courtesy of an overhand right and follow-up punches midway through the opening frame, and then finished off the Spaniard in the fourth.

Beterbiev was the far more aggressive fighter as his crushing power forced Campillo into a defensive mode. He landed shots to the head and body and even when his strikes were blocked, they seemed to make his opponent wince. Beterbiev, who now lives and trains in Quebec, ended things 22 seconds into the fourth when he buckled Campillo’s knees with a right uppercut, and then knocked him completely out with a perfect right/left. Campillo (26-7-1, 12 KOs) collapsed stiffly to the canvas; referee Marlon Wright to not even bother to administer a count.

The win was the eighth straight knockout for Beterbiev (8-0), who has yet to even be remotely tested thus far into his blossoming career. The light heavyweight prospect is vying for a world title and if his next fight is what he wants, he could break Beibut Shumenov’s record for a light heavyweight winning a world championship in the shortest amount of time. He achieved that feat in just ten pro fights and Michael Moorer did it in a dozen. It’s plausible that Beterbiev can pull it off in just nine bouts.