WBA refusing to sanction Kessler fight over hometown judges

Anger has already emerged surrounding the fact that Andre Ward has got home advantage for all of his fights during the Super Six tournament, wheras all the other participants have agreed to travel to fight one another. Now it emerges that the referee and judging panel will all be from Ward's state, provoking dissapointment from Team Kessler. As a result of this, the WBA might refuse to sanction the weekend's Super Six bout as a WBA title fight unless the California State Athletic Commission finds judges and a referee who aren’t from Ward’s home state. Their current super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler(42-1, 32 KOs), is unhappy about the appointment of local judges and a California referee to his defence of the title in Andre's home town, Oakland. The signed contracts by each of the tournament’s six fighters set out very detailed requirements with regards the officials - stating that two of them must be from neutral territory. "Not all the judges can be from California,” Sauerland said during a news conference in Oakland to promote the fight. "If it stays like this, definitely there won’t be a world championship on Saturday. We have a really serious problem." During the first round of the Super Six, two non-British judges awarded a split decision to Carl Froch over Andre Dirrell in Froch's hometown of Nottingham. "It’s just very frustrating, because we put this in the contract, and everyone agreed to it up front," Saulerland's lawyer said, "Abraham did not have German judges ringside". "Mikkel Kessler is a huge star in Denmark, and we’re taking a huge risk bringing him to fight an Olympic gold medalist in his own backyard. We thought we protected him in the contract, and now we find out it’s just being ignored." The California commission has heard of Kessler's concerns and is addressing them. "We are aware of the concerns of the promoter, and so we have been working with both the promoter and the sanctioning body to address those concerns, and that process is ongoing." a spokesman said.

Comments (12)

Andre Ward insisting on fighting on his home patch just throws the whole thing into disrepute. Who does Ward think he is anyway? He needs the other 5 guys more then they need him, especially Kessler and Froch who are the fucking title holders!

16y ago

Peder

I blame Goossen for pulling strings in this matter. The Californian commission??? FÛCK, I've never seen an international high level fights with all native judge and ref before. Quick guess on this ref's view on holding tactics?? Well, I'm not that concerned anyway. Kessler has only been in one close fight before, the one he lost. And the difference in level between Cal and Ward....:theyareon Try a little boxrec on Kessler's record looking at the scorecard of each fight. Very few has a round win/loss ratio like that. Wouldn't it be great if Ward got smacked down 3 times in a row in front of his home town audience? Sweet karma penalty!

16y ago

Joe2608

Ward needs to sort it out. I like him, but fighting every fight in your hometown is ludacris. And to make it worse he wants hometown judges too.

16y ago

Pullcounter7451

if i were kessler, i wouldn't fight unless the judges get changed

16y ago

Bad_Boy_Dazza

freaking retards. what a f up. btw yeah don't blame Ward.

16y ago

Allucard

I thought each fighter got a turn to fight on their home turf once. I ain't know Ward gets each fight in Oakland. That's odd. I kinda want to see it how the Europeans will handle the pressure of needing a KO to win. Since Germany has robbed most US fighters that ever got there. But out of all people Kessler didn't deserve it, he's not British or German and if anyone deserves to be robbed it would Froch, not Kessler.

16y ago

Allucard

b*tch move by andre ward. how is it his fault?

16y ago

MANGLER

I thought each fighter got a turn to fight on their home turf once. I ain't know Ward gets each fight in Oakland. That's odd.

16y ago

ThePunchingBag

I wanna see this shit go down. What happens if it's a close fight and Kessler gets the decision. I'd be laughing all the way home. :rofl: On a more serious note... Straight up bitch move by Ward.... WTF ALL HIS FIGHTS IN HIS HOMETOWN? I was pissed off about Froch getting a consecutive fight in England, but this shit has got it beat. This is straight up outrageous. Not only that, but all Cali Judges and ref? Does anyone want Kessler to just beat the shit out of Ward now? I might've rooted for my Bay Area native before, but this arrangement is straight up wack and Ward needs a good beating.

16y ago

firstborn

You guys are out of your mind if you think Ward and his team have enough clout to pick the judges, half of the general public dont even know who he is! It's bullshit that two of the judges are from California but that isnt Ward's fault.

16y ago

Ray

This guy hasnt really done anything yet in the pros and he already seem like a prima-dona to me, Why does he have to have all his fights at Home??? And the ref, Judges from his hometown?? Thats phucking ridiculous..

16y ago

BattlingNelson

WBA is all about money. No santioning = No money from sanctioning fees = Not going to happen.

16y ago