by James Slater – With fans currently taking in the recent news that former middleweight king Jermain Taylor has decided to withdraw from the “Super Six” super-middleweight tournament he was scheduled to next fight in in April, one obvious question has surely sprung to mind – who will replace the warrior known as “Bad Intentions?”
Sure, his many fans are also left wondering what the future will hold for Taylor, whether or not he will fight again, etc, but the tournament must go on and that means a replacement for Jermain has to be found; and quick. Enter Sakio Bika and Allan Green.
Suddenly, as the word from a number of sources suggests it will very likely be the winner of the February 5th bout that heads to the tourney, the Bika-Green match-up is a hugely important one. Already an interesting fight, Bika-Green now holds much more significance..
If it is indeed the winner of this bout that goes into “Super Six,” which fighter will it be? One man who will be most intrigued to watch and see is Andre Ward. Ward was already training for his April 17th date with Taylor, yet now there is a very good chance his next fight will be against either “The Scorpion” or the slick boxer known as “Ghost Dog.”
How Taylor’s departure will affect the tournament as a whole, no-one can say. Would Jermain have had a good shot against Ward, who shook things up big style with his win over tournament favourite Mikkel Kessler. We will now never know.
For what it’s worth, I tip the teak-tough and hungry/starving Bika to beat Green next month. If the winner does get through to the tournament, and if my prediction is also correct, Bika, who has been complaining bitterly about being unable to land any meaningful fights for a number of months, will all of a sudden be in with a shot at winning the biggest fights of his entire career (the Joe Calzaghe fight aside).
Look for Bika to stop Green late in a fan-friendly contest, and then go on to make a worthy and exciting addition to the already exciting and hugely enjoyable tournament. Somewhere right now, Sakio Bika must be thanking Jermain Taylor for choosing to do what he’s done!