By Per Ake Persson
After weeks of rumors and speculation, Sauerland Event finally canceled the super middleweight clash between WBO champion Robert Stieglitz and Danish superstar Mikkel Kessler (44-2, 33KOs), which was set for April 14th at Parken in Copenhagen. The fight was first scheduled for November 5 but Kessler had to withdraw due to a broken finger. The same injury is still causing problems for the Viking Warrior, which forced Monday's withdrawal.
With Kessler out, Stieglitz will defend the title against his mandatory challenger, British champion George Groves. As BoxingScene.com reported earlier, Steiglitz's promoter, SES Boxing, won Monday's purse bid and plan to stage the fight in Germany, with a date and venue being announced shortly.
As for Kessler, he returns on May 19 in Copenhagen with the opponent to be announced next week.
In an interview with the Danish media, Kessler's promoter, Kalle Sauerland, disclosed one possible option for the May 19th event. According to Sauerland, Kessler might possibly move up to light heavyweight to challenge IBF champion Tavoris Cloud (24-0, 19KOs).
Kessler was last seen in June of last year where he stopped overmatched Frenchman Mehdi Bouadla and his last major fight dates back to the spring of 2010 when he beat Carl Froch and then had to pull out of the Super Six tournament due to eye problems.
