I bet it's his eye injuries.
Rumors say it is his eye injuries from the Ward game still affecting his vision.
Danish newspaper (Ekstrabladet) speculates that he will withdraw from the super six, and maybe even retire.
We will now in 15 minutes
Kessler is out of the super six.
He will not retire, but is expected to return next year, and Sauerland has an agreement, that he can face the super six winner.
No sparring for 9 months, he needs rest (since April).
He will box a game in the spring, and then face the super six winner in the fall...
him and the laudrup brothers, saving that van basten penalty though in the semis is the highlight.
He's the only goalie i've ever seen where i favour him over the striker on a 1 v 1.
Actually Michael Laudrup did not play that tournament. Schmeichel was the main reason for the win - he was magnificent in the final against Germany.
Great win for Kessler. With a third round match against Greene, he is likely to reach the semis.
Froch vs. Abraham now looks very interesting. The loser is probably out. You gotta love this super six tournament - hopefully more divisions will follow this example.
It would be the biggest fight in danish boxing history. Parken stadium would likely host a near capacity crowd.
Only once before has 2 danes squared off in a meaningful fight. Jorgen Hansen twice defeated Hans Henrik Palm for the european championship. Those fights were big. This matchup is HUGE!
Ahh I am not that old, but I do remember the now late Rasheed Lawal whooping Lars Lund Jensen also in a european title fight.
But Kessler-Larsen is just so much bigger.
But I seriously doubt that we get this fight in already in March.
If Larsen beats Bute I can't see Kessler avoiding this fight in fall 2009.
Larsen has been calling out Kessler for about a year now, but the reply from Kesslers side has always been - "Mads Larsen is not qualified to meet Mikkel and brings nothing to the game".
But to be honest doesn't Kessler owe Mads Larsen a fight?
One could argue that Kessler stole Mads Larsens title fight against Siaca (Kessler stepped up as Larsen had to cancel due to injury one week before the fight was scheduled).
Kessler won the fight in 2004 and eventually conquerred the world stage - Mads Larsen in the prime of his career instead ended in a bitter dispute with his promoter, he finally got out of that contract 2½ years later.
Now Larsen is back on the world staged ranked around #15 in the SMW division. Arguably as qualified an opponent for Kessler as anyone besides the top 6 fights that Kessler can not land. And economically a fight against Larsen apparently would bring much more than a fight against b-level american opponents.
How can Kessler and Palle ignore Larsen? IMO they can't!
Either Kessler lands a top fight against Calzaghe, Hopkins, Taylor, Pavlik, Dawson, Wright or Froch. Otherwise Larsen should be next. :hitit:
If Larsen ends up beating Bute in his next fight, the fight Kessler-Larsen is inevitable for fall 2009.
If this fight is so easy for Kessler, he should be able to fight Larsen in march and still fight a big name in the early summer.
Kessler and Larsen nows each other very well having been with the same promoter for ~7 years.
I have a feeling this is not an easy fight for Kessler and he nows it!
No reason why this fight can't happen. It is at a reasonable catch weight and Kessler said he wants US exposure.......
I agree with you there, this is a low risk game for Kessler (compared to the other names he has been calling out) and good US exposure.
Should he loose he would still have his WBA belt.
Main obstacles are are Kesslers dispute with his promoter and off course how to divide the $$
It seems Kessler has the choice - go for this one in the US or face Mads Larsen in Copenhagen.
I would love to see both.
As for Kessler: i don`t think this win means much. Perdomo is a tough nut, but he acted stupid, as he carried his both hands too low, which let Kessler hit him cleanly. And to those who say that the stoppage was premature - watch the KO again; after Kessler hit Gusmyr, his legs simply turned off, he started wobbling, and he was out on his feet. I thought referee did a great job! It could be more spectacular , but Kessler could harm Perdomos` health!
I totally agree - Perdomo was hit bad, and had no defense when struggling at the ropes. If he should have stretched the fight further, he should have taken the dive.
The referee did what he should.
But still the fight only proves that Kessler hasn't forgotten to box in his 1 year lay off.
The super six tournament is so exciting because all fights can go both ways. I have no idea who is the best of these fighters, I just love that all these major names will fight eachother and not bums the next two years.
About the titles and the super six. It is actually possible to lose a game and still win the tournament. Does the titles go from loser to winner in each individual game, or will the overall winner automatically have both belts?
The question one gotta ask oneself is: Could you see the other guy winning? Although I had Holyfield winning, I can understand the 2 judges that saw it differently.
How can you see Valuev winning this one - either you grade it by the punches landed and Holyfield wins at least 8-4 in rounds.
Otherwise you disregard it as a regular boxing fight, and view it more as a gay version og dancing with the stars = tie
In no way did Valuev do enough to come close to winning this one...
Can you confirm Bat??
Well I can confirm that there was an ordinary press conference about the Kessler-Perdomo bout. At least Kessler wrote about it yesterday on his homepage.
I couldn't find any comments on the Palle controversy, though.
Just the usual Kessler comments, trying not to underestimate the upcoming bout: "this is the most important fight of my career", "he is a tough fighter, right stance, tall" etc etc.