Skoglund, Nielsen Brothers Could Be in Line For WBSS Tourney

By Per Ake Persson

While former world champion Mikkel Kessler made it clear yesterday that he would not be participating in the World Boxing Super Series tournament despite being given a wild card, there will be Scandinavian participation - according to what promoter and Comosa Chief Boxing Officer, Kalle Sauerland, told Danish paper Ekstrabladet.

One should also be aware of that Sauerland´s TV partner in Scandinavia MTG (owner of Viasat) is one of the investors in this tournament. The upcoming series will focus on two divisions, super middleweight and cruiserweight.

Sauerland has two highly ranked fighters waiting:  Patrick Nielsen is not just highly ranked, but he's moving upwards in the ratings (WBA) despite being inactive with one fight in 18 months - and he has for a fact not made 168 for two years and is ranked at light heavyweight with the EBU. When his manager proposed a fight against Mikkel Kessler earlier this year, even Kalle Sauerland shot it down. Don´t get me wrong: Nielsen has talent but the question-mark is around how motivated he is.

Erik Skoglund is Sauerland´s other candidate at 168. He started out in the pros as a cruiserweight but he's been fighting at light heavyweight for a few years now and is 26-0 and has held the EU, IBF I/C, IBO Int´l and WBA Cont´l title.

Skoglund is ranked by all four major bodies but the last two years has been spent waiting for a big fight that have failed to materialize.

At cruiserweight Sauerland has Micki Nielsen, Patrick´s younger brother, who could be a candidate despite a loss in his last fight.