CARL FROCH vs. MIKKEL KESSLER

[HS Press]

CARL FROCH vs. MIKKEL KESSLER
Group Stage 2 – Saturday, April 24, 2010
From MCH Herning, Denmark



HERNING (Feb. 12, 2010) —Team Sauerland and Hennessy Sports are proud to announce that the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament group stage 2 fight between WBC Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch and the Viking Warrior Mikkel Kessler will take place at the MCH Messecentre, Herning in Denmark on the 24th April 2010

The fight will be televised in the United States on SHOWTIME® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT. In Denmark, the fight will be broadcast on Viasat. Hennessy Sports will be announcing the UK TV broadcaster over the next week.

The two superstars lock horns in the second round of this unprecedented boxing tournament, with Kessler eager to make up for his opening loss against Andre Ward. The WBC Champ Carl Froch comes off a split decision victory over Andre Dirrell. “With the support of my great Danish fans, I will defeat Carl Froch and become world champion again,” Kessler said. “The atmosphere at MCH Herning is incredible. I only have the best of memories of the venue. The TKO victory over Perdomo last September confirmed my place in the Super Six. After a bad start, I am now out for a knock-out and the first three points.”

Froch is concerned that the date change will affect his travelling fans. “I am upset for my fans with the change of date but this has been unpreventable due to scheduling issues. I just hope that my fans will understand this change and will still come in their thousands to support me in Herning.

The WBC champion is convinced he will defend his title in spectacular fashion. “I am looking to be the first fighter to take Mikkel Kessler out before the final bell. I have gone to Jermain Taylor´s backyard and defended my belt and I am more than happy to do the same with Kessler. As the Champion I will prove that I can fight and beat the best anywhere.”

In September 2009, Kessler defended his WBA Title with a fourth-round stoppage of mandatory challenger Gusymr Perdomo. A sell-out crowd of 6,250 fans raised the roof to support Denmark´s national hero. 90 percent of the tickets were gone within three hours after the start of the sale. Kalle Sauerland expects tickets to sell even faster this time out. “I know that the Danish fight fans will rally behind Mikkel and support him in the most important fight of his life,” Sauerland said. “His career is on the line. But with 10,000 fans behind him – the MCH will provide a bigger arena this time out – I will be expecting Mikkel to collect 3 points and the WBC belt from Froch.

Mick Hennessy Said “This is a great fight, we all know styles make fights and this has the potential to be very explosive and the fight of the year. Carl Froch is the best Super Middleweight on the planet and he will prove that once again in this fight. I would just like to assure the British fans that me and Carl have been working hard with Team Sauerland behind the scenes to finalise all issues before we could make this formal announcement, so as to not mislead anyone.”

Georg Soerensen, CEO of MCH Herning, is already looking forward to the fight. “We are pleased to stage one of the biggest fights in Danish history,” he said. “Mikkel´s fight against Perdomo was a great event but this fight will be even bigger because there is so much at stake. We are anticipating a sensational night of boxing.”

UK Ticket and Travel package details will be announced in the coming week.

SUPER SIX WORLD BOXING CLASSIC SCOREBOARD

Record Fighter Points
1-0 Arthur Abraham 3
1-0 Carl Froch 2
1-0 Andre Ward 2
0-1 Andre Dirrell 0
0-1 Mikkel Kessler 0

For information on all SHOWTIME Sports telecasts, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries from its events and complete information on the Super Six World Boxing Classic, please visit the website at http://www.sports.sho.com

ABOUT SUPER SIX WORLD BOXING CLASSIC
The inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic is a ground-breaking, six-fighter tournament from SHOWTIME Sports® featuring the class of the super middleweight (168-pound) division from around the world. All bouts in the Super Six tournament will be contested under the Unified Rules of Boxing. Each boxer fights three bouts against different opponents in the field in the points-based Group Stage of competition (Win – 2 pts with a 1-pt bonus for KO/TKO; Loss – 0 pts; Draw – 1 pt.). After the Group Stage, the four fighters with the highest point totals will advance to the single-elimination Semi-Finals. The winners of the Semi-Final bouts will advance to the Finals and fight for the inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic trophy.

About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.

[damianhucker1]

well im pleased with the date change my white collar show was going to clash with haye so i moved it to 17th only to hear that it was going to clash with froch , which is even worse considering its in north notts , so loads of froch fans of course fight for me . this date is great for me now .

[Andi_Peters]

one thing you can say about froch is hes a game little sod, he will fight anyone anywhere!

[damianhucker1]

one thing you can say about froch is hes a game little sod, he will fight anyone anywhere!

thats why hes loved and hated i think , some people think its arrogance that he expects to do better then they think he is , but if he keeps this attitude and keeps winning then who can argue with it.

[damianhucker1]

HS any update on whats happening with eddie o'rourke ? hes looked good when ive seen him and another local boy to support too.
i think someone like jon baguley would be a suitable next step for him

[ginger_sack]

this is a disgrace, there was a big argument bout the fight not being in copenhagen on the 17th because lots of fans had already got flights ect, and now it changes compleatly to the week after surely this is ten times worse.
for a big fight the organising has been piss poor.

[davidas]

does anyone have any quotes about it being announced for the 17th? as i will now be in copenhagen the week before!! tremendous

[Finch]

The fight will be televised in the United States on SHOWTIME® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT. In Denmark, the fight will be broadcast on Viasat. Hennessy Sports will be announcing the UK TV broadcaster over the next week.

You gotta love this quote.

Come on Mick, sort yourself out before all your fighters desert you.

[gobbles]

Does that mean it starts at 3am in Denmark. Sorts out the problems with hotels, but that is brutal.

[jameswilson]

The fight will be televised in the United States on SHOWTIME® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT. In Denmark, the fight will be broadcast on Viasat. Hennessy Sports will be announcing the UK TV broadcaster over the next week.

You gotta love this quote.

Come on Mick, sort yourself out before all your fighters desert you.

Yeah they have been leaving in their droves haven't they

[JDC]

I think Kessler will be desperate to trade with Froch in this fight after not getting a chance to do so against Ward. That will be very good for Froch. Kessler has the ability to outbox Froch, but if he goes in looking for a war I think he'll loose.

[whiskey]

does anyone have any quotes about it being announced for the 17th? as i will now be in copenhagen the week before!! tremendous

It's been on the showtime website since Xmas that it would be the 17th.

[davidas]

Yeah I found the quote and copied it into a letter I just sent to Henessy Sports.
Wont do any good but made me feel a little better.

[Max Molyneux]

I think Kessler will be desperate to trade with Froch in this fight after not getting a chance to do so against Ward. That will be very good for Froch. Kessler has the ability to outbox Froch, but if he goes in looking for a war I think he'll loose.

Mikkel would beat him in a war too, Froch won't get the chance to wire himself around him and will get hurt acting like a slow Roy Jones.

[Finch]

The fight will be televised in the United States on SHOWTIME® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT. In Denmark, the fight will be broadcast on Viasat. Hennessy Sports will be announcing the UK TV broadcaster over the next week.

You gotta love this quote.

Come on Mick, sort yourself out before all your fighters desert you.

Yeah they have been leaving in their droves haven't they

Give it time, now ITV have given Mick the sack, the fighters won't stick around, if, Mick doesn't pull his finger out.

[Autobarn]

well, it's not all british fighters who get on showtime. it's not exactly easy to get US TV dates, not major ones anyway.

[whiskey]

It's showtime's fault.

Beating up Mick might make people feel better, but it's not his fault.

The showtime website still have it up as the 17th even today.

I admire the station for this series, but...jesus.

[forcefraser]

It's showtime's fault.

Beating up Mick might make people feel better, but it's not his fault.

The showtime website still have it up as the 17th even today.

I admire the station for this series, but...jesus.

It has to be somebody`s fault that a genuine Britsh WBC title holder has to travel to god knows where to defend his title, bend over backwards and not secure a "proper" TV deal (ala Jermain Taylor)

Wazza doesn`t seem to have these problems.

[Adamj1987]

hopefully it will be a slug fest and froch will win

[teddy007]

For all the sh!t Warren gets I cannot think for one minute that if he had Froch he would be in this position, he would be a big star.