Mikkel Kessler-Daniloa Haussler Moved To Oldenburg

[Dirk Diggler UK]

From what I know about Taylor, he does have some say in who he fights, and after all previous options had been exhausted (he was teased by Mayorga, Trinidad, and RJJ IIRC) he WANTED to finally step into the ring with his old olympic rival Jeff Lacy . Then, along came the offer to fight Carl Froch, who Taylor had probably never heard of, for the WBC belt, and his management advised him that the Lacy fight would bring him more money and a date on his home network, HBO (who didn't want to air Taylor/Froch, even if it was for a belt).

Kudos to Kessler for his honesty about Haussler, but how honest was he when he backed out of the Miranda fight to take what on paper was an easier fight with Sartison for a paper title? His camp finally released a press release blaming the cancellation on Miranda, but that was after failing to pick up the phone for comment when nearly every boxing news outlet around the world was reporting that Kessler was ducking Miranda. When you ignore interview requests in favor of issuing a press release a day or two later, it looks sketchy to say the least.

In the end, at least we know that Taylor is fighting for something, even if it is money. What is Kessler fighting for? A belt that keeps forcing him into mandatories against bums, wasting his time? Neither situation is commendable, but of the two I'd have to say Taylor's career path sounds more reasonable.

Most of your argument is based on the ridiculous premise that Taylor doesnt know who Froch is. Di Bella clearly does and proclaimed on live TV that he knew Froch was the harder fight. Taylor knows that too. Even if hes seen little of Froch, he realises fighting his demoralised Olympic buddy - who almost quit the sport is a safer bet.

Thats pretty much all speculation. You can speculate whether Kessler ducked Miranda all you want........but fact remains, you know that Taylor is flat out avoiding Froch because his team have admitted it. Whether Sartisan was an easier fight or not is again questionable as personally I think Miranda is a bucket of ****e.

What we know is that Taylor will fight for money over the best competition - again, something he has admitted on live TV. Whereas Kessler has called out Pavlik and others showing willingness to fight the best plus shown his unhappiness at having to fight Haussler. Kessler's career intentions sound more credible to me.

[dstew]

It's sometimes all to easy to throw around the word duck and often not really mean it. Sometimes I say it just playing devils advocate, as in if that's your classification of it then this this and this guy is.

On Kessler, I think there is a slight case for Pavlik ducking him, purely because Kessler called him out and to my knowledge neither Pavlik or his team has even responded. This is the guy whom is #1 (minus Calzaghe) at SMW, one division above Pavlik, and he has a belt. Beating the #1 SMW, getting a belt is a pretty big deal, suddenly your #1 in two weight divisions. Who else can really bring him that other than Calzaghe, NO ONE. And he's not even responded to being called out by Kessler, instead he's fighting even higher than that weight, against a guy whom Calzaghe's also beaten and brings him less.

To me, that is a bit of a duck. Certainly more so than Calzaghe for awhile considering and calling out Pavlik (so clearly not scared and willing to) then just picking his #1 choice in RJJ for his last bout.

I disagree about Kessler bringing more to the table for Pavlik than Hopkins does. I think Hopkins offers him the bigger payday and just as much if not more notereity, especially domestically.

Also the boxing media is somewhat at fault here too. Even on this thread someone had to post a link to where Kessler called out Pavlik because it's not widely known about, whereas everyone who follows boxing at all knows that Calzaghe has been talking trash about Pavlik every time he's in front of a microphone. Granted Calzaghe has been more vocal than Kessler, but Kessler's comments were barely covered by the media and then quickly forgotten about. But that all goes back to Kessler not being as big a name as Calzaghe, despite their recent fight, so he is not going to get the same kind of attention.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

No, he was considered a promising prospect by some. .

False revisionist history. He was touted as the Tyson of the super-middleweights, predicted to destroy Calzaghe and dominate the division for years. And not just by idiots on a forum......but by some of America's most respected boxing writers.

My "lame" argument really isn't even an argument. I wasn't trying to prove/disprove anything other than this: If Kessler keeps fighting weak competition then people should hold him accountable for his padded record and complacency..

Yes people should but he isnt even close to announcing a future opponent. And you cant hold him accountable for this fight as its being forced upon him. Yes maybe he shouldve KOed Miranda instead of Sartisan but I see a lot of people here condoning Taylor avoiding Froch because he needed a tune up, confidence building fight after a defeat. Kessler got that and a belt along the way.

The two variables in this land solely on Kessler's marketability--which is very low and was the same as Calzaghes for most of his career. The biggest paydays come from fighting in America--Kessler hasn't accomplished anything to get the attention necessary to fight the big fights. He was in 39 pro fights before taking on Calzaghe (the worst HBO numbers of all time). His previous fight was against Librado Andrade--a boxer relegated to Wednesday Night Fights in the states. American prospects have faced stiffer competition in 20 fights than Kessler has in 40. He needs to step up and get on with it.

Im sorry but as purely a boxing fan, I find it sad when others who claim to be this way talk like businessmen. Yes i understand theres a business side but I want to see the best fights. Like I said, no Yanks were willing to step up. Didnt Pavlik fight Lockett on HBO? I didnt realise The Rocket had taken off in the states. So please dont kid me on that it lies soley on Kessler's marketability.

Librado Andrade is fighting Bute for a world title, nice spin you put on it there, what a demotion. Kessler hasnt done anything to get a big fight....

Which Yank prospects would these be that have been a double world champion and fought a P4P top 3 fighter?

[dstew]

I think the notion that Kessler is not on peoples radar until he wins a 'high profile fight' is a little disingenuous. I think the reality is that he is a very large blip on every top fighter from MW to LHW's radar, one marked AVOID!

I am not suggesting that this is an out and out ducking scenario, more as you quite correctly point out, an economic and risk/reward based one. I can understand that no matter how well regarded in boxing circles Kessler may be, fighting him might not bring the money they are looking for, beating him might not bring the credit they are looking for, and losing to him would be disastrous!

However, this may all be true, but this scenario is not really a 'justifiable' one. This type of approach to matchmaking is the business led one, which we fans routinely complain about, and I don't see how anyone can deny that from a 'boxing' perspective Mikkel Kessler has not clearly demonstrated that he belongs at the top table.

No argument from me.

I will say I'm definitely a fan and see things the way fans see them, but do my best to try to see things from the business perspective as well. Helps keep me sane knowing that it's out of our control, no matter how much bitching and moaning we do about the system in place.

[Kris Silver]

It's sometimes all to easy to throw around the word duck and often not really mean it. Sometimes I say it just playing devils advocate, as in if that's your classification of it then this this and this guy is.

On Kessler, I think there is a slight case for Pavlik ducking him, purely because Kessler called him out and to my knowledge neither Pavlik or his team has even responded. This is the guy whom is #1 (minus Calzaghe) at SMW, one division above Pavlik, and he has a belt. Beating the #1 SMW, getting a belt is a pretty big deal, suddenly your #1 in two weight divisions. Who else can really bring him that other than Calzaghe, NO ONE. And he's not even responded to being called out by Kessler, instead he's fighting even higher than that weight, against a guy whom Calzaghe's also beaten and brings him less.

To me, that is a bit of a duck. Certainly more so than Calzaghe for awhile considering and calling out Pavlik (so clearly not scared and willing to) then just picking his #1 choice in RJJ for his last bout.

[abadger]

If Kessler has seen both Pavlik and Hopkins fit to call out, how can you accuse them of ducking when the two of them choose to fight each other instead of him? "Ducking" would imply that one or both of them were taking an easier fight, which doesn't follow the logic of Kessler's world since he saw fit to challenge both of them and now they are fighting each other. Am I making sense? It takes some circular logic, but you'll get there eventually.

And to be honest, Kessler is probably not on either fighter's radar until he wins a semi-high profile fight, considering he lost his only high-profile fight that was aired in the U.S. Unfortunately for Mikkel, Arthur Abraham beat him to the punch in that regard so right now he is the European everyone is talking about.

I think the notion that Kessler is not on peoples radar until he wins a 'high profile fight' is a little disingenuous. I think the reality is that he is a very large blip on every top fighter from MW to LHW's radar, one marked AVOID!

I am not suggesting that this is an out and out ducking scenario, more as you quite correctly point out, an economic and risk/reward based one. I can understand that no matter how well regarded in boxing circles Kessler may be, fighting him might not bring the money they are looking for, beating him might not bring the credit they are looking for, and losing to him would be disastrous!

However, this may all be true, but this scenario is not really a 'justifiable' one. This type of approach to matchmaking is the business led one, which we fans routinely complain about, and I don't see how anyone can deny that from a 'boxing' perspective Mikkel Kessler has not clearly demonstrated that he belongs at the top table.

[dstew]

You can't avoid top guys non stop for several years when they've called you out and everything else is near saturated. Kessler has called Pavlik out, and Hopkins once I think. He's had pretty much no response, now that's ducking, which ironically is what you kinda criticise Calzaghe for. I spot a slightly double standard, and, as if we need to be over emphasising the money as a factor in boxing today, they do it on their own just fine and it's often not good for the sport.

If Kessler has seen both Pavlik and Hopkins fit to call out, how can you accuse them of ducking when the two of them choose to fight each other instead of him? "Ducking" would imply that one or both of them were taking an easier fight, which doesn't follow the logic of Kessler's world since he saw fit to challenge both of them and now they are fighting each other. Am I making sense? It takes some circular logic, but you'll get there eventually.

And to be honest, Kessler is probably not on either fighter's radar until he wins a semi-high profile fight, considering he lost his only high-profile fight that was aired in the U.S. Unfortunately for Mikkel, Arthur Abraham beat him to the punch in that regard so right now he is the European everyone is talking about.

[dstew]

Thats neither here nor there. I assume Taylor has some say in who he fights and Im sure he wouldnt have his promoter saying "'we're taking an easier fight" if that hadn't been the case. I admire their honesty if anything in that sense.

Although they arent as honest as Kessler who is clearly frustrated and writing off his fight with Haussler. Yet Taylor vs Lacy will be sold as a big attraction on HBO. Kessler is clearly being forced into his waste of time fight whereas Taylor has chosen to take his.

From what I know about Taylor, he does have some say in who he fights, and after all previous options had been exhausted (he was teased by Mayorga, Trinidad, and RJJ IIRC) he WANTED to finally step into the ring with his old olympic rival Jeff Lacy . Then, along came the offer to fight Carl Froch, who Taylor had probably never heard of, for the WBC belt, and his management advised him that the Lacy fight would bring him more money and a date on his home network, HBO (who didn't want to air Taylor/Froch, even if it was for a belt).

Kudos to Kessler for his honesty about Haussler, but how honest was he when he backed out of the Miranda fight to take what on paper was an easier fight with Sartison for a paper title? His camp finally released a press release blaming the cancellation on Miranda, but that was after failing to pick up the phone for comment when nearly every boxing news outlet around the world was reporting that Kessler was ducking Miranda. When you ignore interview requests in favor of issuing a press release a day or two later, it looks sketchy to say the least.

In the end, at least we know that Taylor is fighting for something, even if it is money. What is Kessler fighting for? A belt that keeps forcing him into mandatories against bums, wasting his time? Neither situation is commendable, but of the two I'd have to say Taylor's career path sounds more reasonable.

[BattlingNelson]

The expectation to destroy Calzaghe had more to do with no one paying attention to Calzaghe because his career was spent fighting shut-outs against nobodies. At any rate, Lacy was unproven though regarded.




Ok--padded is the wrong word. I'll call it "pulp" until he continues to fight Hausslers. You are completely correct here.





When you say that--it sounds really good. "Three time world champion". World Champion means you beat the best the world had to offer. Well, in the SMW division the best isn't that great. Its been a very thin division and Kessler hasn't made moves to fight at higher/lower weights to draw in better competition.

His only loss is to #2 P4P but the HBO numbers were bad and Calzaghe is just now himself getting big money fights.

SMW is arguably better than both LHW and MW. By looking at the rings top 10 in all 3 div. I'm pretty sure you'd agree. And Kessler has called out Calzaghe for a rematch and Kelly Pavlik and RJJ since hospitalizing the undefeated Sartison. What can he do? You say he should step up but all step ups are not willing to fight him (they duck you know...)

[abadger]

When you say that--it sounds really good. "Three time world champion". World Champion means you beat the best the world had to offer. Well, in the SMW division the best isn't that great. Its been a very thin division and Kessler hasn't made moves to fight at higher/lower weights to draw in better competition.

His only loss is to #2 P4P but the HBO numbers were bad and Calzaghe is just now himself getting big money fights.

Immediately after losing to calzaghe, Kessler announced willingness to move up OR down to make big fights.

There is little difference in the strength of MW and SMW right now, and LHW is full of old men who will never fight Kessler in a month of Sundays. The top and 'name' boxers Kessler could face are Pavlik, Abraham, Taylor, Miranda, Lacy, Froch, Bute. All are either SMWs or have boxed there in the guise of a catchweight very recently. Kesler is at the right weight for making fights.