WBC champion Mikkel Kessler (43-2, 32ko) is withdrawing from the Super Six tournament because of a long standing eye problem.
Kessler will continue to train but the forthcoming showdown with Allan Green would not proceed as a result of the situation. The fighter stated he was "Extremely dissapointed" and that his eye has been bothering him for some time.
Kessler's promoter Kalle Sauerland says it was “not bad news but it is a bomb shell.”
More twists and turns are expected as a result of this news.
it's questionable whether bute would ever enter such a tournament.
he's never going to enter it handicapped - i.e. with kessler's loss/win record in the tourney.
bute is good but very cautious. his promoters got it all wrong with diaconu - brought him along at the wrong pace, got him the title shot when he'd gone off the boil, got him his big rivarly (pascal) when he was inactive and in slight decline. they have got it right with bute, they will sell out the bell center and stage as many IBF title fights as they can - no matter whom it is against, however bad (likely) or good (let's remain hopeful).
in fact i wouldn't be surprised if, when kessler gets better, bute will pick on him.
i wonder how many other super 6ers want to pull out, and i wonder if kessler's injury and withdrawal will set a precedent.
MacTavish wrote:Always said this comp should have been a straight knockout like the FA Cup - holding this over 2 years meant that drop-outs would be inevatible.
agreed. kessler would have been out in the first round if that was the case. the promotors got too greedy when they made the Super 6 and already we have had 2 pull outs before Group Stage 3 has even started. The tournament is in a shambles now that kessler has gone as he was a serious draw.
Froch may have ended his career. He landed some big shots on Kessler and gave him a horrendous cut. Looks like some of those bg shots had more of an effect than we realized.
For the record, I scored that fight a draw and I was being kind to Kessler because he was at home.
MacTavish wrote:Always said this comp should have been a straight knockout like the FA Cup - holding this over 2 years meant that drop-outs would be inevatible.
now this sounds like a very good idea. however at the time, the notion was that if you lost, you would still have a chance to come back - that defeat isn't everything. this was the main appeal. just think, if kessler has been eliminated, then he would never have had that memorable battle with froch.
one problem is that even the winners - andre ward springs to mind - probably want out. especially now that ward has a title and realises he can't have every title fight in his hometown (because each fighter has the right to turn down the venue, which dirrell seems to be doing).
What happens to the WBC belt? Does he have to vacate and will it stay in the tournament? Obviously belts mean nothing nowadays but it would have been good to set up a unification bout between Bute and the super six winner for all the belts.
Pisser. A cool dude and exciting fighter who was a big, big part of the tournament's appeal. Certainly more so than the charisma vacuum that is Dirrell and Andre 'Did I mention God?' Ward.
Hope he does come back next year and face the winner. Assuming that there is one.
Surprised and disappointed. Must be genuine as he would have been a heavy favourite against Green. The whole thing's falling apart, which is a great shame.
Ah damn, I feel Froch could have got his revenge in a rematch. I wonder how the tournament organisers will fix this now. I agree that this format of a league as opposed to a knockout tournament is far too long. Hopefully the next super six is purely a knockout tournament.
Terrrrry wrote:Kessler will have to vacate his WBC strap.
It'll supposedly now be on the line in the Froch/AA fight.
Froch must be well chuffed!
I think to be fair Froch wanted the rematch with Kessler more than the belt, yes the belt is important to a guy like Froch but I'd say his reputation of taking on the tough fights is more important to him now. He might not be a household name among casual fans here in this country like Hatton but proper boxing fans from all over the World know who he is. Not saying they all rate him but they know who he is, therefore belts have probably become a little less important to him.
I'v absolutely no idea where this leaves the Super 6 as I have no idea who will step in. I'm fairly sure that we will hear bollocks of why Bute can't step in, HBO TV deals, contractual obligations and all that shazzam. I'm sure everyone would like him to tell HBO and Brinkley and his promoters where to go and come out and say he will step in. Will he do that? Will he buggery. That in itself is a shame as when you go past Bute it is a big step down in class to the next guy. I mean who is the next guy? Stieglitz? Andrade? Bika (despite the DQ loss?) We will see. Andre Ward needs to grow himself a set of bollocks and fight outside of Oakland too. Every other fighter in the tournament is doing it why not him?
Always thought this tournament would be fraught with problems. Far too many fights and too many potential injuries etc.
A straight knockout like prizefighter would have made far more sense than a round robin. Why is a fighter who gets battered twice going to want to continue ruining their career by participating farther.
Kalle Sauerland mentioned on the pressconference in Copenhagen that round 3 could be the semifinals since number 1 will fight number 4 and number 2 fight number 3.
As has been mentioned in the current scene - Getting rid of Green somehow, and making the Ward/Dirrell and Froch/AA fights into semi-finals, would be the best resolution here
But, then again, that'd probably lead to more delays, arguments about who gets to fight at home, etc etc.
Unsuprisingly the over-reaction merchants are jumping on this.
Lets have it right guys this tournament has not been a bundle of problems like some are making out. I'd far rather have it than have a bunch of guys fighting bums one fight after another. We've had Jermaine Taylor pulling out after suffering another heavy knockout and Kessler pullout because of a genuine injury. It's hardly like the sky has caved in like some of you are making out and giving it the 'ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I said this was gonna happen the Super 6 was doomed from the start, look at me everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!'
The super 6 will continue and react to this, and we are in for some huge (not just bog standard World title) fights thanks to this tournament. If you would rather it not happen then fornicate off and don't watch it.
jameswilson wrote:Unsuprisingly the over-reaction merchants are jumping on this.
Lets have it right guys this tournament has not been a bundle of problems like some are making out. I'd far rather have it than have a bunch of guys fighting bums one fight after another. We've had Jermaine Taylor pulling out after suffering another heavy knockout and Kessler pullout because of a genuine injury. It's hardly like the sky has caved in like some of you are making out and giving it the 'ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I said this was gonna happen the Super 6 was doomed from the start, look at me everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!'
The super 6 will continue and react to this, and we are in for some huge (not just bog standard World title) fights thanks to this tournament. If you would rather it not happen then eff off and don't watch it.
An overreaction, where? An overreaction would be a strangulated cry of 'Argh!' followed by a suicidal gesture and three years of intense therapy. This is kind of like someone going, "Pfft" and then falling asleep with their chin in their lap and then dreaming of a rematch of Froch-Pascal, which was grimly entertaining, rather than the pile of tosh that will be Dirrell-Ward.
Even if we do move straight to the semis then what are we left with? AA-Froch should be a good one, with the loser leaving the roster. Ward-Dirrell is a super-turkey in waiting, though I'd love to be proven wrong. So we are left the possibility of a Froch/Abraham-Dirrell final, which would be poop, history shows this, or the chance of a Froch/AA-Ward final, this may be grimly entertaining fare also as it would feature more nuts, grinding elbows, bad mouthing action and foul behaviour than a hardcore porn film, though I fancy that there is likely to be little in the way of punching.
I've seen better semis at an impotence support group.
So you are basically saying you are unhappy with the Super 6 and trying to make a few jokes. Nice one. If your unhappy with the top fighters in the division fighting each other and then what is it you want? Your complaining about the Super 6 because it's had a few pullouts and not every fight is gonna be like Froch vs Pascal. No doubt your unhappy with other divisons in boxing where the best fighters in those divisions aren't fighting each other. What is it you want exactly?
Well the websites indicate it's looking like Green is history in this tournament and effectively it shall be Dirrell vs Ward & Froch vs Abraham with the winners meeting in the final.
I presume the losers will tee off on the undercard ? but not sure on that, or may possibly be another fight in itself. It could be Froch vs Dirrell, or Abraham vs Dirrell - or Ward vs Froch or Ward vs Abraham... all interesting fights too, which establish 3rd place ?
With regards the WBC belt, I imagine there isnt much interest from Froch in a cast-off belt from the man he lost it to. He only wants Kessler with the title, not a vacant fight for it. They'd be better giving to the Dirrell vs Ward fight.
Plus something I've considered - at present to iron out the Froch vs Abraham issues, Showtime chose the venue and are providing the referee and 3 x American judges of their choosing.
If the WBC get involved it will be 3% of both fighter's purses - plus they will bring their own WBC referee and WBC judges and with Saulerand involved you'd get a pile of Tillemans scoring it.
Cant see Froch wearing that lot and who would blame him ?
Whilst it's a pretty belt, i dont think it's that important in this match-up at all. It would make more sense to be given to Dirrell and Ward.
On another note, i've thought it might be the last we see of Kessler.
I cant see him summoning up another effort like his last one. He won the title in his homeland against a great unbeaten champion on national TV. That must be his crowning moment.
He has a lot of fights under his belt and lots of cash.
I'd back Froch all the way in a rematch. I think Kessler wouldn't have won that same fight if it was at an English venue, with the Brits cheering all the way through. I dont think we'd have seen the same effort.
It would be a good time for Mikkel to leave the sport and I think we might see that happen you know, I really do.
It's hard to put all that effort in and looking at his body language and so forth, I wonder if he can put that kind of effort together once more. I dont think so.
Its sad all this negativity to this news...actually i'm gonna say its even good news as i honestly thought Green had a chance of stopping Kessler(who i thought was looking close to shot after 2 back to back hard fights) and making it through to the semi's which would have been a joke so just eliminating both Kessler and Green is fine with me and moving on to the semi's.
wow how can someone be dissapointed by:
Abraham vs Froch - thats a guaranteed action packed fight
Dirrel vs Ward - maybe just for the boxing purist but to me the skill level on show in this fight would be very high plus it'd be a much better fight then people are making out.
I'd rather have great fights with problems then crappy defences these guys are forced to make by sanctioning bodies.
I think Kessler might have ko'd Green, who I think is limited and easy to hit, but I wonder after that, what Kessler would have in the tank.I think he has slown down a fare bit, and might not have too much left.I wonder if he has one eye on retirement?
I am really looking forward to the Froch-Abraham fight.Mind keeps on shifting on this one.I initially thought Abraham might win, but I think Froch is one of those blokes that won't get stopped, and might be too big for Abraham.It will be an exciting fight though, I think.
King Geedorah wrote:None of the fights has been like Froch-Pascal. Kessler-Froch came close. The rest have been crap. Yes, I want the top six fighters to face one another but this doesn't include Bute, so it isn't even that, is it?
In a nutshell: Super Six has been anything but and the semis are pretty poor and the permutations make for a final that will fail to catch fire, in my opinion, so the whole thing is currently doomed to banality.
This is an observation based on the facts to hand. I could sit here and say it is effing great for boxing and we're going to have some top fights and it will be awesome, but I'd be lying, and the story so far wouldn't support this. I'm all for a 'glass half full' mindset but you think the glass is half-filled with liquid gold, I think it is completely filled with sand.
It's pretty clear to me the reason Bute hasn't been in the Super 6 isn't because of politics or anything it is because of his unwillingness to take any kind of a risk. Yeah he is among the top of the division but he has had plenty of opportunities to make bigger fights and hasn't. Like I said, if you match the top 5 or 6 fighters in each division against each other not every fight is gonna be like it is out of a film. I'd far rather see the best face off against each other regardless of how pretty the fight turns out. Froch v Abraham in my opinion has the potential to be hugely exciting. You are saying every fight except Froch v Kessler has been crap. I'd imagine you are bored to tears with boxing in general as fights like Froch v Pascal/Kessler are a rareity at the top level.
, who won't get a change to take on Kessler again, which I'm sure he would have loved to.
