Anthony Dirrell

Dirrell wins rematch with Bika, takes home the belt

Dirrell wins rematch with Bika, takes home the belt

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) The first time these two fought in Brooklyn last December, a rough and rugged contest ended in a controversial draw. Bika, of Australia by way of Cameroon, held onto his title but the sanctioning organization mandated a rematch take place. It’s clear to anyone who’s paid attention during the build up to this rematch that Bika and Dirrell don’t like each other, as they jawed back and forth at the presser and weigh-in earlier this week. But how would all that animosity translate into the ring? It didn’t take long to find out.

The first round of this boxing match looked more like a wrestling match, as the fighters took turns slamming each other into canvas. Referee Jack Reiss tried to establish control of the fight early and told the fighters to knock out the rough stuff or he’d take a point. Dirrell, the quicker, slicker boxer, attempted to confuse his opponent by switching between the southpaw and orthodox stance.

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

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

(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.

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

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

(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.

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Dirrell must avoid brawling with Bika

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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

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Showtime Tripleheader Preview & Weigh-In Results

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.

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

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

(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.

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

04 Dirrell vs Bika draw IMG_2583Super 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.

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Anthony Dirrell Ready For Bika on Dec. 7 on SHOWTIME

bika33NEW 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.

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Anthony Dirrell vs. Anthony Hanshaw this Saturday, July 27th on Showtime Extreme

SAN ANTONIO, TX (July 24, 2013) – A slate of action packed fights is expected this Saturday, July 27 when a roster of top talent steps into the ring at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, on the undercard of the highly anticipated “KNOCKOUT KINGS II” event. Heading up the preliminary bouts before SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® goes on the air, hard-hitting, undefeated rising star Anthony Dirrell and veteran Anthony “The Tyger” Hanshaw will face off in a 10-round clash for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight Championship which will be televised live on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

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