Sakio Bika defeated Sam Soliman by unanimous decision in the semi-finals last week. This is the live finale where the winner not only wins The Contender belt, but also $750,000. Codrington got to the finals by knocking out Brian Vera and Wayne Johnsen.
Jaidon Codrington vs. Sakio Bika
No time was wasted in this fight as Bika put Codrington down thirty seconds into the fight. Codrington was actually using a guard and still went down. Bika landed a couple of shots to Codrington while he was down but nothing was done about it. Bika attacks when Jaidon gets up and now Bika hits the canvas. This is wild. Bika was caught throwing wild punches and headhunting. Bika looks worse after being knocked down than Codrington did. Bika survives the round and each has a knockdown to their credit in the first round.
Bika rocks Codrington with a combo in the second round but Jaidon doesn’t go down. So far in this fight, all technical boxing strategy goes out the window when one guy feels he has the other in trouble. I would like to see a more tactical approach to breaking the opponent down when he’s hurt but this is all headhunting. Bika starts the 4th round with more heavy, clubbing shots. Codrington isn’t giving Bika a difficult target to hit. Codrington is doing well in recovery, but he shouldn’t be allowing Bika to get him in that situation. Some more nice shots follow in what is becoming a great 4th round.
The 5th round is another example of the continuous excitement this fight is producing. The two men exchange punches up to the final bell. Codrington gets wobbled in the sixth. There hasn’t been one round so far where one man hasn’t been hurt to the point where it looks like he could be finished. A crazy flurry ends the sixth round as they trade punches up to and even a little after the bell.
Bika catches Codrington with a nice left hook in the 8th, but then again all the punches landed in this fight have been really nice. Bika gets Codrington on the ropes and has Jaidon on the run. Jaidon has the heart of a warrior and fights back with everything that he has but Codrington is on wobbly legs. Codrington is trying to get away and the ref gives him an out clause as he waves off the fight. Bika by TKO at 2:18 of round 8.
This was an awesome fight. Despite all the hokiness of The Contender, this fight deserves to be in the running for fight of the year. Check it out on numerous ESPN replays if you get the opportunity.
Undercard Bouts
– Sam Soliman defeated Wayne Johnsen by unanimous decision.
– David Banks defeated Donny McCrary by majority decision.
– Max Alexander lost to Brian Vera by unanimous decision.
– Miguel Hernandez lost to Aslanbek Kodzoev by unanimous decision.
