Dark Destroyer Returns! 55-Year-Old Nigel Benn To Make Comeback Against Sakio Bika
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
When Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. announced his pending return to the ring in 2019 at age 57 (a charity exhibition), one wondered who could be next. The answer is in. It’s a shocker.
Nigel ‘The Dark Destroyer’ Benn, age 55, a fighter turned pastor in the mold of George Foreman, has decided to comeback. His opponent will be 40-year-old Sakio Bika, who has been out of the ring since 2017. Benn, 42-5-1 with 32 knockouts, West Hann, London, United Kingdom but now living in Australia, a Commonwealth British Empire Super Middleweight champion who held the World Boxing Organization World Middleweight title from 1988 to 1990, and the World Boxing Council World Super Middleweight title from 1992 to 1996, has been out of the ring since losing to Steve Collins in 1996.
Bika, 34-7-3 with 22 knockouts, a Cameroon native fighting out of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, will set the stage for an-All Australian war. However, the fight will be held on November 23, 2019, at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham., England. Bika held the World Boxing Council World Super Middleweight title from 2013 to 2014, and also held the IBO World Super Middleweight championship in 2008.
Bika has the most solid chin in the business, having gone the distance in world title bouts at 168 and 175 pounds with the likes of Joe Calzaghe and Adonis Stevenson, Bika has never been stopped. Benn has been stopped four times. Benn lost his last three bouts, WBC and WBO world title bouts at 168 rounds, and then retired. Benn was never the same after he stopped Gerald McClellan in 1995, going 20-3 in his last five bouts.
‘The Dark Destroyer’ was a legend in his time. Why Benn should get bitten by the bug and urge to return to the ring at this point is his personal call. This is Benn’s unique personal reasoning for his return to the ring in the twilight of life: “I suffered with a lot of issues in my life from a young age, from 1972 when my brother died — the murder of my brother — which I carried through to my adult life. I was dealing with depression, I virtually lived in the Ministry of Sound. The only time I had peace was when I was training. That was it. It’s been a long time coming. This fight is all about me. It wasn’t Isn’t motivated by money reasons) financial. It was always about closure (inside the ring) I wanted, but never had (realized within).” We at Real Combat Media wish Benn good luck and God speed.
COMMENTS
English