Sakio Bika vs. Adonis Stevenson set for April 4th in Quebec

 
WHEN it comes to delivering big time opportunities, there is no denying the pulling power of Al Haymon.

 
Although he is loathed by many promoters, matchmakers and television executives alike, the fighters of the notorious boxing advisor love him and you can see why.

 
Australia’s Sakio Bika (32-6-3, 21 KOs) is the latest recipient of Haymon’s golden touch, earning an unlikely challenge at WBC light heavyweight titleholder and lineal champion Adonis Stevenson (25-1, 21 KOs).

 
No official venue has been confirmed, but the fight will land on April 4th at either the Colisee de Quebec or the Bell Center, the alternating homes of Stevenson’s last ten fights.

 
The fight will be televised on CBS Sports, parent company of Showtime Sports, as part of a deal which will see CBS televise eight cards from Al Haymon’s signature ‘Premier Boxing Champions’ series. CBS has an estimated national reach of 110 million US households.

 
In the co-feature, undefeated hot prospect Artur Beterbiev will face cagey former world champion Gabriel Campillo.

 
What makes Bika’s title challenge so surprising is the fact that the Sydney-based former WBC super middleweight champion is coming off a loss – a competitive points decision against Anthony Dirrell in August – but will still go into the fight full of confidence, given his experience at world level.

 
Stevenson burst onto the scene in 2013, scoring a first-round knockout over Chad Dawson to win the coveted green belt, before making two defences against Tavoris Cloud and Tony Bellew on cable network giant HBO.

 
The career of the Quebec-based Haitian has stalled in the past twelve months since making the questionable move to sign a multi-fight agreement with rival television network Showtime Sports.

 
The move was said to be financially beneficial to Stevenson, but many inside the industry saw it as a ploy to avoid unified light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev. Stevenson, 37, fought only twice in 2014 – compared to four times the year prior – scoring low key wins in title defences over Andrzej Fonfara and Dmitry Sukhotsky.

 
From many perspectives, the intangible in this fight will be Stevenson’s ability to fend off the relentless attack of Bika. Stevenson has suffered knockdowns in past fights against lighter punching duo Andrzej Fonfara and Darnell Boone, which suggest that Stevenson is there for the taking.

 
Bika flew out to St. Louis for a shorter than usual training camp with trainer Kevin Cunningham on Wednesday as he prepares to shock the boxing world.

 
 
Photo: Will Hart/HBO