I just rewatched this. Better fight than I remember- then again I saw it live at like 4am in the UK and watching fights when not tired makes them much more enjoyable. I forgot how much success Bika had early on- he was really roughing Ward up early on. Ward seemed to make a adjustment and dealt with the pressure well. For people who have seen many of wards early fights is this is toughest pro fight to date? This fight shows just how tough someone like Bika can be, who is a very determined, rugged veteran. Obviously this isn't relevent to Dawson, as Dawson is a thinking fighter, and Bika doesen't believe in thinking he just believes in mugging people. Still interesting to see one of the best fighters in the world struggle. There are no other fighters like Bika on the horizon who can trouble Ward either at 168, as far as I can see. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vPW7jVXLCo[/ame]
This was a pretty god learning experience for Ward. The key here is that Ward was able to make an adjustment and win the fight. For me, that is pretty much the key to his career: he is always able to make an adjustment and pull out the win. Dawson obviously has many more layers to his game than Bika, so the question I have is "who will make the right adjustment?"
