This seems like a dangerous fight for Ward, to me. Even in Oakland with a crooked ref. I think Bika has a very good chance of winning. Actually, I think Bika will win or get DQd while he is punishing Ward. The fight is going to be a dirty monstrous mess but Bika isn't going to be contained by a one sided ref like Kessler was. Maybe Ward will get knocked out and win by DQ like Mendy.... Do you really think Bika will be looking over to the ref for justice when he is getting head butted? No he is going to get wild. I think the plan is to find a guy that is sloppy that likes to fight on the inside and who has limited skills so they can showcase Ward's abilities and turn Bika into a mess over 12 or, if they sense that Bika isn't going down and isn't in that much trouble, just have the ref stop it if they are sure Ward can't knock him out. But Bika isn't going to be a "good sport" like Kessler was when they gave him the shaft. Maybe Ward will keep his O, but Mendy still has his too.... Then they can send Ward outside of Oakland to face Froch, who will also beat him. Abraham will beat Johnson and knock out Froch for a second time in the finals and then take out Bute assuming Bute hasn't lost by then. Or maybe Ward bows out and they send Bika into face Froch coming off a Ko loss to Abe which could be an interesting fight, I'll take Froch. Then again I could be wrong about everything just my two cents.
I think body punching could yield big dividends for Ward here, but its something he doesn't do often enough.
Ward better hope Bika eeeks out a close win, because anyone with a mandate has to fight Bute next, and that means humiliation for Ward.
If you can't watch the fight, just watch rams square off on the Discovery Channel for a preview of what you're missing.
