Mikkel Kessler Named Mandatory Official Challenger For WBA Super Middleweight Title

[mickeyluvsu]

what a shame.........."THE VIKING WARRIOR" eh.............
i thought he was solid and he would overcome obstacles but reading and hearing this makes me upset. A TRUE fighter/boxer returns to where they left off. We all know that the lost against JOE was hard for him but that's boxing. Let that fly by cause he didn't get knocked out so he should of taken the fight against MIRANDA and who know he could of won or lost doesn't matter but the fact is he would of left off fighting at the top level where he was at. Disappointing, and if that's his way of getting a belt that bad............SOOO SAD!!!

IMO i liked KESS and still do but he dropped a notch.

So i bid you all a pint and CHEERS!!!!!!

[Diane]

Boxing News -- Fightnews.com : EkpZEyFVkFEWVXyMUE

Mundine defense threatened!
Mundine-Soliman III not sanctioned
Mikkel Kessler promoter Mogens Palle said Wednesday that he has checked with the World Boxing Association and has been informed that a May 28 super middleweight title defense by Anthony Mundine against Sam Soliman has not been approved. Mundine has announced the third bout against Soliman is set for the Vodafone Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Palle said the WBA had not even been asked to authorize Mundine-Soliman III. "Mundine won a vacant title in March 2007 and has now gone 13 months without making a required mandatory defense. We have asserted our rights and told the WBA we're ready to make Kessler-Mundine II a reality in the end of May or the start of June....I would hope Mundine would prefer to try Kessler again rather than having his world title stripped for not complying with WBA rules. He does refer to himself as 'The Man' so I would really hope so. It is a WBA world title and is not limited to a WBA Australian title." Former champion Kessler, now the WBA mandatory challenger, previously outpointed Mundine in June 2005.
Wednesday, April 2 2008

[Mikkel_K]

what a shame.........."THE VIKING WARRIOR" eh.............
i thought he was solid and he would overcome obstacles but reading and hearing this makes me upset. A TRUE fighter/boxer returns to where they left off. We all know that the lost against JOE was hard for him but that's boxing. Let that fly by cause he didn't get knocked out so he should of taken the fight against MIRANDA and who know he could of won or lost doesn't matter but the fact is he would of left off fighting at the top level where he was at. Disappointing, and if that's his way of getting a belt that bad............SOOO SAD!!!

IMO i liked KESS and still do but he dropped a notch.

So i bid you all a pint and CHEERS!!!!!!

You make it sound like Kessler is dodging Miranda in order to fight Manfredo or something.

The reality is that he is trying to secure a fight against a fighter who is undefeated for 3 years and ranked #2 in the division by The Ring, and that Kessler is likely to go to that fighter's backyard (again).

The Miranda-fight might have been more entertaining, but Kessler is hardly a chicken here. In fact you could easily make the point that he is indeed trying to return to where he left off, and more so than if he had fought Miranda for the exposure.

[CutMeMick]

what a shame.........."THE VIKING WARRIOR" eh.............
i thought he was solid and he would overcome obstacles but reading and hearing this makes me upset. A TRUE fighter/boxer returns to where they left off. We all know that the lost against JOE was hard for him but that's boxing. Let that fly by cause he didn't get knocked out so he should of taken the fight against MIRANDA and who know he could of won or lost doesn't matter but the fact is he would of left off fighting at the top level where he was at. Disappointing, and if that's his way of getting a belt that bad............SOOO SAD!!!

IMO i liked KESS and still do but he dropped a notch.

So i bid you all a pint and CHEERS!!!!!!

You do realize he's fighting Mundine?
Like the other guy said (Mikkel K) it's not like he's fighting Peter Manfredo or Vitaly Tsypko.
Mundines a prominent name and he's shown time and time again that he's come along ways.

In the event whichever fight he makes I'm sure it'll be a worthy opponent.

[eagle]

I have to agree with Mikkel K and Cutmemick. Anyone who thinks Miranda is a bigger threat than Mundine either hasnt seen these guys fight or lnows little of boxing.
Kessler is taking a much harder fight if he goes to Oz to fight Mundine than if he went to the US to fight Miranda.

He'll make a shitload more money too. I bet he makes 1.5 millio Euros in Australia v Mundine in front of a 15,000 plus crowd.
Miranda fight was for 400,000 Euros and the crowd would be nowhere near as big.

[CutMeMick]

I have to agree with Mikkel K and Cutmemick. Anyone who thinks Miranda is a bigger threat than Mundine either hasnt seen these guys fight or lnows little of boxing.
Kessler is taking a much harder fight if he goes to Oz to fight Mundine than if he went to the US to fight Miranda.

He'll make a shitload more money too. I bet he makes 1.5 millio Euros in Australia v Mundine in front of a 15,000 plus crowd.
Miranda fight was for 400,000 Euros and the crowd would be nowhere near as big.

eagle,
I think (And I'm sure those of you who are complaining will agree) what makes this look bad and or stands out more is:

1. Mirandas big mouth
2. The Press coverage it gets
3. Kess accepted the fight
4. Kess stepped out of the fight

and I can see that but what has to be understood here is that neither guy is let down fight. Both are interesting fights.

I would also love to see those who feel Miranda is a tougher fight then Mundine and I'd like to read why they feel that way.

[Mikkel_K]

I have to agree with Mikkel K and Cutmemick. Anyone who thinks Miranda is a bigger threat than Mundine either hasnt seen these guys fight or lnows little of boxing.
Kessler is taking a much harder fight if he goes to Oz to fight Mundine than if he went to the US to fight Miranda.

He'll make a shitload more money too. I bet he makes 1.5 millio Euros in Australia v Mundine in front of a 15,000 plus crowd.
Miranda fight was for 400,000 Euros and the crowd would be nowhere near as big.

eagle,
I think (And I'm sure those of you who are complaining will agree) what makes this look bad and or stands out more is:

1. Mirandas big mouth
2. The Press coverage it gets
3. Kess accepted the fight
4. Kess stepped out of the fight

and I can see that but what has to be understood here is that neither guy is let down fight. Both are interesting fights.

I would also love to see those who feel Miranda is a tougher fight then Mundine and I'd like to read why they feel that way.

Not surprisingly I agree with both you and Eagle!

However to adress your last point, I actually think Miranda could be considered a tougher fight, since Miranda brings something new to the table. Mundine (although not as good then, as he is now), Kessler has already dealt with. He knows he can take him - and how.

Miranda, while not exactly Zab Judah in the unpredictability-area, brings more of that uncertainty of the outcome that every great fight should have. And which we fans love when anticipating the upcoming fights.

[Dizaster]

Fuck yes! This will be a 30 minute drive from me if he fights Kessler where he was planning to schedule his fight with Soliman.
I still don't like Mundine, but he has improved 3 times over since his last fight with Kessler, and this fight will show whether he should be taken seriously..

Will be a great fight! I'm going to love seeing Kessler live..



Happy new for me

[donnydarkoIRL]

At the end of the day Kessler is looking to get himself in to world title positions. With the world title will come world class opposition, I'm sure.
We cannot discredit Kessler this quickly. He threatened Calzaghe on several occasions, gave a highly respectable account of himself and gained Joe's respect.

Mundine, although no Calzaghe is still good opposition. Should Kessler beat him again and gain a strap, he will allow himself more leverage to bargain for bigger fights.
If Miranda so badly wants the Kessler fight, he should have no problem proving he's worthy with a win over more threatening competition than Banks.

[mickeyluvsu]

what a shame.........."THE VIKING WARRIOR" eh.............
i thought he was solid and he would overcome obstacles but reading and hearing this makes me upset. A TRUE fighter/boxer returns to where they left off. We all know that the lost against JOE was hard for him but that's boxing. Let that fly by cause he didn't get knocked out so he should of taken the fight against MIRANDA and who know he could of won or lost doesn't matter but the fact is he would of left off fighting at the top level where he was at. Disappointing, and if that's his way of getting a belt that bad............SOOO SAD!!!

IMO i liked KESS and still do but he dropped a notch.

So i bid you all a pint and CHEERS!!!!!!

You make it sound like Kessler is dodging Miranda in order to fight Manfredo or something.

The reality is that he is trying to secure a fight against a fighter who is undefeated for 3 years and ranked #2 in the division by The Ring, and that Kessler is likely to go to that fighter's backyard (again).

The Miranda-fight might have been more entertaining, but Kessler is hardly a chicken here. In fact you could easily make the point that he is indeed trying to return to where he left off, and more so than if he had fought Miranda for the exposure.

MY point is that a boxer/fighter should continue where they left off. Keep doing what they are capable of doing. He opted out a contract to go get a BELT.....hey whatever keeps his head up high but my point is that which ever fight happens to be on the line go for it that is part of boxing.

No disrespect to him or fans thats just my opinion!!

[bzkfn]

I have to agree with Mikkel K and Cutmemick. Anyone who thinks Miranda is a bigger threat than Mundine either hasnt seen these guys fight or lnows little of boxing.
Kessler is taking a much harder fight if he goes to Oz to fight Mundine than if he went to the US to fight Miranda.

He'll make a shitload more money too. I bet he makes 1.5 millio Euros in Australia v Mundine in front of a 15,000 plus crowd.
Miranda fight was for 400,000 Euros and the crowd would be nowhere near as big.

eagle,
I think (And I'm sure those of you who are complaining will agree) what makes this look bad and or stands out more is:

1. Mirandas big mouth
2. The Press coverage it gets
3. Kess accepted the fight
4. Kess stepped out of the fight

and I can see that but what has to be understood here is that neither guy is let down fight. Both are interesting fights.

I would also love to see those who feel Miranda is a tougher fight then Mundine and I'd like to read why they feel that way.

I think that Kessler has failed to explain his reasoning for pulling out as left people to question if he is afraid of Miranda. He needs to come out and say "This was too good an oppertunity to turn down, but don't worry, you'll get yours after I get my belt back."

I'd respect that.

[Dizaster]

I have to agree with Mikkel K and Cutmemick. Anyone who thinks Miranda is a bigger threat than Mundine either hasnt seen these guys fight or lnows little of boxing.
Kessler is taking a much harder fight if he goes to Oz to fight Mundine than if he went to the US to fight Miranda.

He'll make a shitload more money too. I bet he makes 1.5 millio Euros in Australia v Mundine in front of a 15,000 plus crowd.
Miranda fight was for 400,000 Euros and the crowd would be nowhere near as big.

eagle,
I think (And I'm sure those of you who are complaining will agree) what makes this look bad and or stands out more is:

1. Mirandas big mouth
2. The Press coverage it gets
3. Kess accepted the fight
4. Kess stepped out of the fight

and I can see that but what has to be understood here is that neither guy is let down fight. Both are interesting fights.

I would also love to see those who feel Miranda is a tougher fight then Mundine and I'd like to read why they feel that way.

I think that Kessler has failed to explain his reasoning for pulling out as left people to question if he is afraid of Miranda. He needs to come out and say "This was too good an oppertunity to turn down, but don't worry, you'll get yours after I get my belt back."

I'd respect that.

That's exactly it.. Kesslers press guys have played a couple of things pretty crappily lately, and they have to be insane to think that it doesn't tarnish the fighters image in some way...

[ArawakWarria]

I've said it before and I'll keep repeating it...

Regardless of how one might feel about the boxer, I have a real problem with them getting a title shot immediately after a loss.

If it was a rematch for the title in a hotly disputed decision, or an early stoppage, then definitely. But it would make more sense to let two current winners fight for the vacancy, not just the two available.

[Galaxy]

I agree with the others that Mundine is a tougher fight for Kessler than Miranda. But the think for me is Mundine is supposedly fighting Soliman for a 3rd time at the end of May... what is Kessler doing in the meantime? Hes already been of awhile! It just makes me wonder why Kessler didn't take the fight with Miranda then move onto Mundine next. Kessler must be either hoping to fight instead of Soliman or worse(& I hope its not the case) hoping Mundine is stripped of his alphabet strap so he can get it by default without having to face either Mundine or Miranda.

[thewhale]

I agree with the others that Mundine is a tougher fight for Kessler than Miranda. But the think for me is Mundine is supposedly fighting Soliman for a 3rd time at the end of May... what is Kessler doing in the meantime? Hes already been of awhile! It just makes me wonder why Kessler didn't take the fight with Miranda then move onto Mundine next. Kessler must be either hoping to fight instead of Soliman or worse(& I hope its not the case) hoping Mundine is stripped of his alphabet strap so he can get it by default without having to face either Mundine or Miranda.

Well that is quite simply they dont want Mundine to fight Soliman again, this is from Team Palles website:

Palle says Mundine must defend next again Kessler
or get stripped of WBA
Super Middleweight



Danish matchmaker Mogens Palle said Wednesday that he has checked with the World Boxing Association and has been informed that a May 28 super middleweight title defense by Anthony Mundine against Sam Soliman has not been approved.
“We learned that this ridiculous third bout between the two was announced for the Vodafone Arena in Melbourne, Australia, on that date. They held a press conference which attracted little attention. Only five press people showed up,” Palle said. “Nobody cares about that match against a smaller middleweight who Mundine has twice beaten and even knocked down four times.”
Palle, whose daughter Bettina is former WBA-WBC champion Mikkel Kessler’s manager-promoter, said the organization had not even been asked to authorize Mundine-Soliman III.
“Mikkel, who is 39-1 and has only a loss to undefeated Joe Calzaghe, is now the official challenger to Mundine. Mundine won a vacant title in March, 2007, and has now gone 13 months without making a required or mandatory defense. We have asserted our rights and told the WBA we’re ready to make Kessler-Mundine II a reality in the end of May or the start of June.”
In his first defense of the WBA belt, Kessler went to Sydney and outpointed Mundine over 12 rounds.
“Despite the silly opponents Anthony has chosen, we see it as another tough fight. I’d say that Mundine is improving with experience. But we’re comfortable that Mikkel will beat him again. Mundine must step up for the mandatory challenge or give up the world title.
“I would hope Mundine would prefer to try Kessler again rather than having his world title stripped for not complying with WBA rules. He does refer to himself as ‘The Man’ so I would really hope so. It is a WBA world title and is not limited to a WBA Australian title.”